Catastrophe
by Nwandu225
Summary: Destiny is a funny thing… you never know how life will turn out. A proverb that Naruto and Sasuke realize when their fated clash at the Valley of the End sucks them into the Fairy Tail universe. Notions are broken as the duo face a fight for survival against the forces of a corrupt government, criminal syndicates, and Hell itself. Will the Sons of the Sage rise to the challenge?
1. Clash

**Story Synopsis:** Destiny is a funny thing… you never know how life will turn out. A proverb that Naruto and Sasuke realize when their fated clash at the Valley of the End sucks them into the Fairy Tail universe. Notions are broken as the duo face a fight for survival against the forces of a corrupt government, criminal syndicates, and Hell itself. Will the Sons of the Sage rise to the challenge?

* * *

 **Chapter #1: Clash**

"Sasuke… please. Don't do this, you're better than this. Selling your soul to Orochimaru for power isn't worth it, it'll come with too high of a cost. Orochimaru isn't doing this to help you, he just wants your body for his own sick desires! Come back with me to Konoha!" Naruto pleaded, half-conscious and his eyes becoming harder and harder to keep open.

The blond jinchuriki lay before his teammate's feet, his body riddled with burns from Sasuke's **Katon: Ryuka** (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique). The battle between Naruto and Sasuke was a ferocious one, a constant fest of one-upmanship, but it looked like Sasuke finally pulled ahead.

In the beginning, Naruto was hard pressed to keep up with Sasuke, who was empowered from the ritual that unlocked the second level of his Curse Mark. No matter how many shadow clones Naruto threw at him, the prodigious Uchiha beat him back every single time.

His first success came when he was able to cancel out Sasuke's Chidori with his Rasengan, proving once and for all that neither technique was superior to the other. Tiring of the battle however, Sasuke activated his Curse Mark's first level and that in conjunction with his Sharingan allowed him to beat Naruto down ruthlessly.

Bloodlusted and eager for power, Sasuke slammed a Chidori through Naruto's lung in order to unlock the Mangekyo Sharingan, but Naruto's timely drawing of the Kyuubi's chakra allowed him to regenerate the damage and turn the tables.

Naruto hated drawing upon the tailed beast's chakra, it felt like cheating because the power didn't originate from him and he was constantly pumping with malicious thoughts and aggression every time he used it, making him feel more and more like the monster that the village ostracized him for.

Beggars couldn't be choosers however, and Naruto realized that it was the only way for him to defeat his talented foe. For all his annoyance at Konoha's constant fawning of Sasuke, Naruto now truly realized that the boy deserved it.

Sasuke wasn't just talented, he put in more effort when training himself than Naruto did in pursuit of the lofty goal to defeat his wayward brother.

Forcing himself to look inward and be objective, Naruto understood that he had been a slacker. He didn't take his shinobi training seriously during the Academy and only started to really apply himself when Jiraiya took him under his wing.

It amazed Naruto how much progress he had made under the Toad Sage, mastering water walking in a couple of hours and learning the Fourth's A-Rank jutsu in a month. Naruto's already gigantic ego swelled to greater heights with his accomplishments.

However, the prodigious Uchiha quickly knocked the wind out of his sails. Even after a month of inactivity, Sasuke still maintained the edge during their rooftop battle in Konoha. It seemed that no matter what, the Uchiha would always be one or two steps ahead of him.

But that was about to change.

Despite the negatives with harnessing the Kyuubi's chakra, it seemed to give him the boost he needed to finally lay some payback on his teammate. His speed, strength, agility, and senses all increased exponentially.

Each punch that Naruto landed was therapeutic as he released his frustration at always being the laughing stock of the team, the "dobe", on his teammate.

After knocking Sasuke all over the lakeside for a couple of minutes, Naruto finally decided to end it and smashed the Uchiha back first onto a rock wall.

Naruto asked his rogue teammate if he had come to his senses yet, but this only drove Sasuke into a rage and made him heatedly reply that Naruto could not possibly understand the pain he was going through for he was alone from the start.

Thrown off balance by the remark, Naruto didn't react in time to Sasuke's shove and the two shinobi crashed into the water below.

Trying to make Sasuke see sense, Naruto came from another angle and tried to relate his situation to the Uchiha's. While he didn't painfully lose blood relatives, he viewed Iruka as a father and Sasuke as a brother.

Which was why he would stop Sasuke from breaking that bond no matter what, even if he had to break all the bones in the Uchiha's body to do so.

Sasuke was still undeterred however and countered that it was too late for him to go back. However, the Uchiha tied his forehead protector on, finally recognizing the blond as an equal in their battle.

While moved by the gesture, Naruto charged at his teammate with full force as he was still wholly determined to drag Sasuke back to Konoha with him.

This was where everything went horribly wrong for Naruto, however.

Rather than knocking Sasuke's lights out as he intended to, the Uchiha caught his punch with ease and flipped the jinchuriki over his head so Naruto couldn't use his unnatural strength to power through.

At first, thinking that it was luck, Naruto pressed on with his assault. However, as the Uchiha continued to deflect his blows with minimal ease, Naruto realized with mounting horror that the tide of battle had shifted once again.

Jumping back to catch his breath and strategize, Naruto saw a sight that made his eyes widen in shock. Sasuke, seeing where the blond's eyes were locked, smirked in response.

Sasuke's eyes had an extra tomoe in each, bringing the count to three. His prized Kekkei Genkai had finally matured.

Enraged at the turn of events but unwilling to give up, Naruto halted the flow of chakra to his soles and sunk into the water.

The action startled Sasuke, but the Uchiha quickly went on guard and shifted into his clan's vaunted Interceptor style taijutsu stance, a skillset he could finally use to the fullest now that his precognitive abilities were at their pinnacle.

An ominous silence fell over the battlefield for all of three seconds before five Narutos erupted out of the water, bellowing fierce battle cries.

The Uchiha snorted at his opponent's tactics, here he thought that Naruto would try something new but it was the same old shadow clones.

The squad of blonds engaged Sasuke in a swirling melee of claws, tackles, and kicks, but the Uchiha would have none of it and either countered whatever was thrown at him or sidestepped out of the way.

However, as Sasuke was dispelling the attacking clones, more and more were popping out of the water, flying at him like a bunch of missiles.

The Uchiha twirled out of the way of the bombardment, but when he tried to move once more he found that a pair of hands were gripping his ankles tightly. With a roar, a chain of shadow clones swung the Uchiha into air before smashing him into a cliffside.

Unfortunately, the battle was far from over.

" **Katon: Ryuka!"** (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique) Sasuke roared, and a stream of red hot flames engulfed the chain of clones, dispelling each and every last one of them.

When the smoke cleared, a singular, scorched Naruto was lying on the ground in front of Sasuke, tired and disheartened. Naruto slowly groveled forward and grabbed Sasuke's leg, before making one final plea to his teammate.

And as we already know, he would be refused.

"Naruto… I… I already told you. It's too late. IT'S TOO LATE!" Sasuke roared in a panic, before he grabbed the blond jinchuriki by his collar and jumped off of the cliff.

Sasuke shifted in the air, flipping Naruto upside down with his head facing the ground below. The Uchiha grabbed Naruto's thighs and crossed his legs under the Uzumaki's neck, assuring the fact that there would be no escape.

A couple moments later, the pile driver made contact with the ground.

The awful silence returned to the battlefield, as if the landscape was giving its final respects to the losing combatant.

Naruto's body stuck up from the ground rigidly for a couple of seconds, before slackening and falling backwards into the water. The corpse slowly floated away, reinforcing the melancholy.

"N..Naruto. I'm… I'm s-s-oh god." Sasuke began, before he collapsed to the ground and began to retch uncontrollably.

The Uchiha thought that he would be able to handle it, that he would be able to harden his heart so he could awaken the ocular prowess of the Mangekyo Sharingan and come closer to standing on an even footing with his brother.

However, without the corrupting influence of the Curse Mark, Sasuke realized just how much of an impact the blond Uzumaki had on his life.

" _What have I done?"_ Sasuke thought, tears threatening to begin falling.

The young Uchiha began to reminisce all of the memories he had with his teammate, their petty squabbles and fights, the times Team 7 would go out for meals, getting dragged into whatever prank Naruto had in store for Kakashi whenever he was late, and then their battles against enemies that would destroy either one of them separately but they overcame together.

" _Oh god. WHAT HAVE I DONE?!"_ Sasuke thought agonizingly.

* * *

As Naruto's prone body floated across the water, his vision blurred from the serene, blue sky of the battlefield into a murky, dank sewer that radiated a miasma saturated with malice, one that would make even the most stalwart of warriors falter.

The epicenter of it all was series of steel bars which formed into a massive cage, its expanse going on for as far as the eye could see in all directions.

The prisoner?

Only the most formidable of the tailed beasts, the one who brought Konoha, the greatest of the hidden villages, to its knees single handed.

When the Kyuubi's malice sheened eyes fell onto his unconscious container, a low, rumbling growl escaped his maw.

How could he, the greatest of the tailed beasts, be unfortunate enough to be saddled with such a pitiful specimen?

" **Look at you… this is the extent of your resolve? So WEAK. I truly have been cursed to be stuck with a pathetic runt like you."** Kurama rumbled, hatred dripping from every syllable.

Naruto did not respond.

The tailed beast snorted in derision, before pointing a clawed finger at the prone jinchuriki and emitting a stream of bubbling chakra at him.

" **Be grateful maggot. I have seen fit to bestow upon you even greater power. Fail at your own peril."** Kurama snarled.

When the rage fueled stimulus made contact with the Uzumaki, his bloodshot and slit eyes shot open.

* * *

Sasuke was brought out of his regret filled thoughts when the wind began to pick up and the temperature began to rise.

He slowly raised his head to see what was causing the phenomenon, and his eyes widened in amazement when he found the source.

Naruto had seemingly risen from the dead, a reddish-orange substance that partially surrounded his body slowly pushing him upright.

Sasuke rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, before warily walking up to his fallen teammate.

"Naruto… w...what are you?" Sasuke asked, in utter shock.

The Uchiha was answered by Naruto springing back to life in an instant and smashing his fist into Sasuke's face, sending him flipping backwards before crumpling into a heap on the water surface.

While Sasuke groaned in agony from the cheap shot to his nose, Naruto roared in rage and pain as the substance completely coated his body and formed a cloak in the shape of a fox. One bubbling tail swished back and forth behind him.

"Ugh…" Sasuke groaned as he slowly got up, his head still spinning from the attack. When the Uchiha's eyes finally cleared, the sight in front of him made in pause.

Naruto was crouching down on all fours, his mannerisms animalistic and feral. His hair had spiked up ever further and his eyes were wild and menacing, their outline darkened. His teeth were sharp and jagged, his canines protruding so much that they dug into his lower lip, his whisker marks had deepened, and his fingernails had lengthened even further, each one a dagger like weapon on its own.

But the stunning visuals weren't even the most glaring changes, it was the fact that this new form oozed **Killing Intent**.

Naruto's previous Kyuubi influenced form already made him ridiculously predator-like, even the most hardened of shinobi would pause at it. However, the One Tail cloak took that menace and laughed at it as if it was nothing.

"You… **you fucking bastard…"** Naruto snarled ferally, and Sasuke's insides crawled at the sound.

The blond jinchuriki was teeming with utter rage, he couldn't believe that Sasuke had actually tried to kill him. He heard his heartfelt plea and ignored it as if it was nothing before pressing on to gain the Mangek-whatever thing he gloated about in the middle of their fight.

As it stood now, Naruto wouldn't be satisfied until he tasted Sasuke's blood.

" **Prepare yourself, Sasuke! At the end of this, you're going to wish you had stayed in the hospital."** growled Naruto, before rising up and crossing his arms.

Sasuke, upon hearing his teammate's words, actually shook in fear a bit. This was the first time he had ever heard Naruto speak with such vitriol, it was quite unnerving.

"N..Naruto, w-wait. I'm so-" Sasuke began, but his sentence was halted when Naruto swiped his arms outward. The wind generated from the action was so powerful, it created a ten foot tall wave of water that swept over the Uchiha.

When the water cleared, Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw Naruto right in front of him, his claw cocked back and ready to tear through flesh and bone.

" _What the hell?! So fast… he cleared a hundred feet in an instant!"_ Sasuke thought fearfully, as his Sharingan enhanced sight barely allowed him to dodge the swipe that would have torn his head off of his shoulders.

Sasuke was in full retreat mode, Naruto's blows were twice as fast as before and if the steaming from everytime the cloak around the blond jinchuriki touched the water was any indication, Sasuke didn't want to be on the receiving end of that.

Unfortunately, life rarely goes how we want it, for after another frantic dodge was made by Sasuke, an oversized claw shot out from the chakra cloak and slammed into the Uchiha, sending him flying back another several hundred feet.

Not even close to satisfied, Naruto charged Sasuke once more, his speed so great that he phased out of sight and the water below him displaced itself several feet out in each direction.

Sasuke was eventually able to arrest control of his body, and skidded across the water for a few seconds before stopping.

" _That chakra cloak. It's… It's like it has a mind of its own!"_ Sasuke thought, wincing in pain from the burning sensation on his chest.

Sasuke was right to fear the cloak, the sheer heat that emanated from the chakra burned straight through the front of his shirt and left a glaring red claw mark. Shaking his head to try and distract himself from the pain, the Uchiha whipped his head around frantically to see which direction Naruto would come from.

Sasuke quickly caught onto Naruto's trail, the bursts of water erupting from the surface giving away the jinchuriki's trajectory.

" _Let him try this on for size!"_ Sasuke thought as he formed hand seals.

" **Katon: Hosenka!"** (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique) Sasuke roared as he began to rapidly fire flame bullets at every point his Sharingan locked on the Uzumaki.

The blond jinchuriki dodged the fire bombs with contemptuous ease however, before blitzing forward once again at Sasuke.

Sasuke had anticipated this however, carefully aiming his attacks in order to make Naruto take this course of action.

" _HA! You fell for it! Once a dobe, always a dobe!"_ Sasuke thought cockily while running through another string of hand seals.

" **Katon: Gokakyu!"** (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique) Sasuke shouted, before launching a massive fireball at the charging jinchuriki.

A sizeable explosion rang out when the two forces made contact with each other and steam billowed out from the collision point.

After a couple seconds of silence, the steam was blown away by a roar and Naruto stood at the epicenter looking no worse for the wear.

" _N-No effect?! Does the cloak increase his defense as well?"_ Sasuke thought incredulously.

Naruto snarled angrily, annoyed that he hadn't caught his prey yet, before slowly raising a claw into the air.

" _Don't panic. As long as I keep my distance, I should be fine."_ Sasuke thought, while wondering what Naruto's next course of action would be.

Sasuke's plan held weight for all of two seconds, until Naruto swiped downward and launched another chakra claw after him. The Uchiha jumped upwards, dodging the first attack and then shifted sideways in free fall to avoid the next.

When Sasuke landed on the ground however, the jinchuriki sped around him in a circle, causing the water to rise up in a wave that hid his movements from the Sharingan. Soon after, more chakra claws erupted out of the water trying to latch onto him. Only Sasuke's natural grace allowed him to dodge each and everyone of the attacks. Even still, it was only barely. His body quickly became covered with shallow cuts from all of the bare misses. Once the onslaught halted, the Uchiha hightailed it out of there, trying to make it back onto solid ground.

Meanwhile, Naruto landed vertically onto another cliffside to get a better view of the battlefield. Once his eyes found Sasuke, he shot his fist forward and fired another chakra claw at the Uchiha.

The chakra claw crashed into the water before curving upwards and slamming into the Sharingan wielder, smashing the boy into another cliff. The rockside crumbled and Sasuke rolled and tumbled onto the ground near the bay, coughing and groaning in pain.

The Uchiha's shirt was gone, revealing a body that was riddled with scratches, bruises, and burns. Slowly, Sasuke tried to pick himself up from the ground, but his body was feeling Naruto's revenge very keenly.

" _I… can't give up. N-not now, I'm so close to getting my revenge I can almost taste it. C'mon body, MOVE!"_ Sasuke thought as he rose to his knees.

But those proved to be empty words when a massive chakra claw the size of a house erupted from the water and closed in on the Uchiha. Sasuke's eyes widened in terror and he bolted for the hills as the hand came down on him like the hammer of a god.

With a final jump, Sasuke barely managed to avoid getting flattened by the chakra claw, but backed up against a rock wall in fright when he realized how close he was to meeting his fate.

" _H-Holy crap! That nearly killed me! Naruto really isn't playing around anymore."_ Sasuke thought in alarm as he drew upon the first level of the Curse Mark, hoping that it would give him some semblance of a chance.

Sasuke quickly found that it didn't as he couldn't react in time to yet another chakra claw shooting out of the ground and wrapping around his arms and torso. The Uchiha screamed in pain as he felt the acrid chakra burn his skin.

Naruto sported a savage grin when he saw that he struck gold before whipping his arm backwards and lassoing the Uchiha towards him. The blond jinchuriki then focused as much chakra as possible to his cocked back fist, making his chakra cloak distort as the demonic energy rose in intensity around the appendage.

Sasuke couldn't help himself when he screamed a very unmanly shout of terror as Naruto swung his fist with the power of a freight train at his cheek. With a feral roar, Naruto's fist made contact with the Uchiha's face and there was a very visible and loud displacement of air and pressure as the two connected.

Blood and spittle flew out of Sasuke's mouth, and the Uchiha whimpered in pain as he went flying once again at mach speed into yet another cliffside. Dust and gravel engulfed the area around Sasuke's landing, while rocks and dirt crumbled due to structural damage to the cliff.

When the smoke cleared, the scene revealed Sasuke down on the ground once again, struggling to pick himself up as blood oozed from his nose, mouth, and the numerous wounds on his body.

" **Come on you asshole! GET THE FUCK UP! I'm not even close to through with you! Before I'm done, you'll be begging for death as if I'm the Shinigami!"** Naruto roared upon seeing his teammate's pitiful state.

The Uzumaki had absolutely no sympathy for whatever pain the Uchiha was in. Where his normal self may have been satisfied, the Kyuubi influenced Naruto only felt even more excited with blood in the air.

While the One Tail Cloak improved his stats even further, the drawbacks became even more apparent. Whatever restraints Naruto possessed in his Initial Jinchuriki form disappeared completely upon entering a cloaked form.

Not to talk of the damage his untrained body sustained while using the chakra.

" _I can't believe it. Even the combined powers of the Curse Mark's first level and my matured Sharingan don't hold a candle to Naruto's strength. I've been wary of using this because of what that Sakon guy told me, but at this rate it's my only choice."_ Sasuke thought as he stumbled to his feet.

Despite the state that Sasuke was in, a smirk formed on his face. Naruto was soon going to learn not to challenge his betters.

"I can't believe a dumbass like yourself is pushing me this far. You should be proud that it's come to this, but know that you have absolutely no chance now." Sasuke boasted to his blond opponent.

A sizeable vein protruded from the jinchuriki's temple, but it wasn't the comedic type, oh no it was from absolutely encompassing rage.

Even after the beating he took, Sasuke was still talking shit and belittling him. Steam erupted from Naruto's mouth as he grinded his teeth together.

" _I'm going to kill this bast-"_ Naruto paused in his rage filled thoughts when he began to witness Sasuke's metamorphosis.

The teenage Uchiha's skin shifted into a dull grey, his nails and teeth lengthened like Naruto's own, the whites of his eyes turned black, and Sasuke's hair grew to the middle of his back and turned dark purple.

"You may possess a special power, but I can assure you that I'm more "special" than you'll ever be. This is just a taste of the power Orochimaru is offering me, this is the second level of the Curse Seal of Heaven." Sasuke bragged as Naruto's eyes widened.

Sasuke began to emit a sickening aura that rivaled the intensity and killing intent of the blond jinchuriki's, however while equal in power they were opposite in nature.

Naruto was burning rage and Sasuke was ice cold hatred.

"Yes, I have a feeling that I won't be losing today." Sasuke stated.

Naruto had finally had enough of the arrogant Uchiha's mouth and crouched down on all fours before blitzing forward once more in blur, the power poured into his legs so great that when he took off the ground cratered and debris rose.

A trail of devastation was created as the blond dragged his right claw across the ground to build up resistance that once released would increase the force of his strike severely.

The impact when Naruto collided with Sasuke kicked up more debris as the two tumbled into the foot of the stone statue of Uchiha Madara, one of the founders of Konoha.

When the dust cleared, Naruto's eyes widened in shock when he realized that his claw hadn't connected with Sasuke's face but rather had been blocked by this grotesque hand shaped wing. After a couple seconds of uncomfortable silence the wing twitched, alarming Naruto into jumping back but he wasn't able to put up enough distance for the wing backhanded him into the foot of the Hashirama stone statue.

Naruto groaned as he picked himself up, that blow had hurt a lot. When the Uzumaki looked up, he froze and his eyes widened again when he saw another misshapen wing sprout out of Sasuke's back, completing his monstrous transformation.

" _S-Sasuke… what did you let Orochimaru do to you?!"_ Naruto thought in disgust as he laid eyes on his teammate's new form.

Naruto could almost see Orochimaru in Sasuke's place when the two locked eyes, the Snake Sannin leering at him with cold, detached eyes. The same eyes he probably wore when he killed his beloved Third Hokage in the Sand/Sound invasion of Konoha.

"What's the matter Naruto? Does my power frighten you? Well, doesn't that sound familiar." Sasuke sneered in derision. He was annoyed that Naruto saw fit to judge him when he had the same exact problem.

Naruto blinked, before lowering his eyes in shame. He was doing the exact same thing that the villagers did to him during his childhood.

When Naruto faced Sasuke once more, the Uchiha was stunned to see the change in his eyes. Whereas before he saw judgement and disgust, he saw understanding and acceptance. A weird feeling arose in Sasuke's chest and he swallowed hard to try and make it disappear.

But with no success.

Naruto forced himself to calm down, he was still angry at Sasuke but giving into his rage would be counterproductive in getting the Uchiha to return. He would plead with his friend one more time.

"Sasuke, I will ask you one more time. Return to Konoha with me. If it's power you want, I can help you train. A sparring partner will help you progress further than you ever could on your own, I can even ask Pervy Sage to take you on as a second apprentice. Just forget Orochimaru, **he's not worth it**." Naruto pleaded with every fiber in his being.

Sasuke blinked with amazement at Naruto's tone, the Uchiha wondered why the Uzumaki was so determined to bring him back. He had purposefully avoided making bonds so when he chased after Itachi, nothing would hold him back.

However, it seemed that he had found a kindred spirit within Naruto. Even after trying to kill him, Naruto had somehow found it within himself to forgive him.

Sasuke knew more than anything that he didn't deserve it.

"Naruto, I… I can't. You have to understand, it's not just the power that's pulling me to Orochimaru. Hatred…. I need it more than anything if I want to face Itachi and I can't let it fester if I'm making bonds with you and the rest of the guys in Konoha. I... I have to do this." Sasuke replied.

"But… why?" Naruto asked in incredulity.

Why? That was a very good question.

He could easily just try to forget Itachi, let the man while away his time in exile and try to live his life happily as a giant middle finger to his brother and his grand delusions of "testing his capacity".

However, Sasuke just couldn't bring himself to forget.

Itachi's Tsukuyomi had damaged Sasuke more than anyone could realize. He couldn't unsee all of the deaths, they kept replaying in his mind over and over again in nightmares and daydreams.

Insomnia and PTSD as a child was a terrible thing and forever knowing that the man who committed the crime would go unpunished for no one was strong enough to bring him to justice just didn't sit right within Sasuke.

But most importantly, Sasuke just couldn't let this perverted figure of his idolized big brother continue on. He needed to end the man that lived in order to revere the memory of the boy that once was.

Sasuke needed closure so he could move on, but his cold and introverted persona prevented him from opening himself up to others and helping them to understand, even someone like Naruto fell prey.

Leading the fighting teammates to their current en passe.

"I've explained enough Naruto, even if I told you, you wouldn't understand. But I also don't understand you. Why? Just why do you try so hard?" Sasuke asked, to Naruto's confusion.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, still hurting over his failure.

"Bringing me back to Konoha, I mean. I get it… I'm one of your first bonds and you don't want to go through the pain of losing them. But you have to understand Naruto, I'm **done** with Konoha. Even if I didn't dedicate my life to ending Itachi, I would have eventually left Konoha anyway. There's just too much pain, the ghosts of my past that only serve to haunt me. A constant reminder of what once was. There's nothing left there for me… but there shouldn't be anything for you either. Are you not the one who had to deal with neglect and hatred all your life? If I were you, the hatred I feel at Itachi would be directed at Konoha." Sasuke answered.

At that remark, Naruto paused. The argument made logical sense, but it went against Naruto's dogma, the code that he lived by which kept him going.

Never give up and prove himself to the village one day that he was fit to be their Hokage.

"Sasuke, I just can't be like that. I have been subject to enough hatred in my life to realize what an ugly feeling it is to have. It eats you up inside and makes you a shell of your former self. Look at Gaara! Look at what he was when he gave in to his hatred, is that what I should become? Is that what you want to become?" Naruto countered, trying to exude the passion in his words to Sasuke in hopes that he would give in.

Sasuke took a good long look at Naruto, at his teammate, at his comrade…

At his brother.

Naruto's argument sounded "great" but it seemed too much like stubborn defiance in the face of utter despair rather than something that he truly, truly believed in.

After seeing everything Naruto would go through in order to "save" him, he couldn't handle seeing the Uzumaki lie to himself.

Sasuke had tried to move on from what Itachi did, he truly did. But the hurt never disappeared, it continued to gnaw at him as if a knife was pressed against his heart.

If Naruto failed to acknowledge his own inner demons, then when the people he put all his hope in ever let him down?

It would destroy him.

In Sasuke's not so humble opinion, it was better to put your trust in yourself, rather than let others hurt you.

"Naruto, look me **straight** in the eye and tell me that you can forgive **every** single thing that Konoha has done to you. Look truthfully within yourself, tell me that after all the **shit** , after all of the **putting down** , after all of the **despair** , you can truly ignore it as if it has no consequence. Do you truly have no resentment?" Sasuke asked, his eyes piercing Naruto to the core.

Upon seeing the somber look in Sasuke's eyes, Naruto did what his teammate asked of him and truly looked within. As he went through each and every important memory of his, the gravity of Sasuke's words truly sunk in.

While he had some good memories, his bond with the old man, the Ichirakus, Pervy Sage, and Iruka-sensei, the negatives far outweighed the positives.

He remembered all of the jeering, all of the looks, all of the hidden whispers, all the stores slamming the door in his face, the occasional drunk who would be stopped by ANBU before they went too far, everything that he tried to show didn't hurt him with the fake smile.

All of it still hurt, solitude was a fate that he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy.

Naruto now realized that he hadn't truly forgiven, rather he buried the memories within his subconscious and avoided introspective thought so he would never think of them again.

That's why everyone thought he was so dumb, he wasn't stupid it's just that when he thought too hard, it brought up painful thoughts which led to painful questions.

Questions that he didn't have all of the answers to.

" _STOP! STOP THINKING! This is what Sasuke wants you to do! Throw you off of your game so he can get his way! Even if Konoha isn't perfect, it's all I know! What else am I supposed to do, just drop everything and leave like Sasuke? I have my precious people! Iruka-sensei, Pervy Sage, Granny Tsunade, the Ichirakus, they're all I need to fight off the darkness!"_ Naruto thought desperately.

But the thoughts rang hollow.

Naruto was brought out of his desperation by the sound of chirping birds. The blond looked up to see Sasuke crouching down, with his left arm outstretched and his palm engulfed with dense lightning chakra.

"Naruto, it seems that we're too staunch in our lines of thinking. I can't convince you and you can't convince me, so there's only one way this can end. Prepare yourself and face my Chidori! This time however, I promise you that you won't be a match for me!" Sasuke shouted, while charging his finishing move.

Naruto growled at the challenge, but inwardly thanked the Uchiha. This was a welcome distraction from the onslaught of painful memories. Once he defeated Sasuke and brought him home, then he would take the time to figure all of this out.

"So be it, Sasuke! But if you think winning will be easy, you've got another thing coming!" Naruto bellowed, his right arm extending out and powerful chakra swirling into ball in his upward facing palm.

Due to the powerful demonic energies of the Curse Mark and the Kyuubi empowering Naruto and Sasuke's already deadly techniques, the Uchiha's jutsu turned black and white while Naruto's shifted into a deep purple with red wisps of chakra emanating from it.

The battle had finally reached its endgame, the combatants were on their last legs and every move in their arsenal was exhausted bar one. Neither was willing to use trickery for victory, it would be a contest of willpower and strength.

And neither was willing to be the loser.

The two shinobi jumped off of their platforms into the air, kiting through the sky at high speeds. The two brought their jutsu hands back before thrusting forward with all of their might, allowing their techniques to determine the outcome of the fight.

"CHIDORI!"

"RASENGAN!"

When the two attacks collided, a shockwave erupted from the point of contact, shattering any rocks and trees in its path. Wisps of purple and red chakra swirled around each other as they fought for dominance in the conflict.

The opposite but equal energies eventually coalesced into a whirling black sphere of power that expanded rapidly, until it encompassed the entire area between the statues of Hashirama and Madara.

Within the black sphere of energy, Naruto and Sasuke continued to push forward, neither willing to concede and determined to prove to the other their superiority. The pure force emanating from the power struggle was truly immense, and the heat generated was horribly scalding to the skin of the two warriors.

" _Come on! Come on!"_ Sasuke chanted, as he tried to gain the advantage in the clash but it was for not, they remained perfectly equal.

" _I won't let Sasuke beat me again! I refuse!"_ Naruto thought, but he too had no success in gaining the upper hand.

The two opposing forces continued to grind against each other, neither giving but continuing to up the ante until one finally submitted. Unfortunately, as the pressure continued to build up from the power struggle something eventually had to give.

However, the utter necessity of Naruto and Sasuke's battle...

The Senju and Uchiha's battle…

The battle between the sons of the Sage of Six Paths…

And the War between the Will of Fire and the Curse of Hatred within the Narutoverse, meant that it wouldn't be the combatants who gave.

The ungodly pressure being formed within the epicenter of the Rasengan/Chidori clash finally reached a breaking point and with nowhere for the energy to escape, collapsed inward and created a tear within time and space itself.

A tear which began to emit a powerful force of attraction and started to suck in whatever had created it to restore balance to the multiverse.

" _What the hell?!"_ Sasuke thought in alarm as his arm began to be sucked in by the extreme gravitational force of the dimensional tear.

" _I can't fight it! It's dragging me in!"_ Naruto thought in fear, as his face began to enter the portal.

Within Naruto's mindscape, the Kyuubi was taking in its opinion a well deserved nap. The tailed beast "figuratively speaking" had to pull his incompetent container's ass out of the fire twice and was feeling a little tired.

His peace and quiet didn't last very long as his surroundings began to distort and scrunch together into one point.

" _ **Ugh, what did the fool do now?"**_ Kurama thought, slowly opening an eye.

When he did, the tailed beast blanched in horror as he was slowly dragged into the black hole like phenomenon.

" **Wait, WHAT?! NO! NO! NO! WHAT DID YOU FUCKING DO, YOU WORTHLESS MEATPUPPET?! GET ME OUTTA HERE! GET! ME! OUT! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"** Kurama's furious roars filled Naruto's mind as his body was completely swallowed by the dark vortex.

Back in the outside world, the two shinobi screamed in terror as their bodies were also swallowed whole by the tear and once all of the energy emitted by the Rasengan/Chidori clash was sucked in, the tear sealed itself and all became silent.

Not even two minutes later, a spiky, silver haired Jonin and his ninken rushed onto the scene, frantically searching the premises for any sign of the two teens.

" _No… please, this can't be happening!"_ Kakashi thought in increasing panic.

The Jonin had been running at ridiculous speeds across the countryside for hours trying to catch up to his fighting students. His fine tuned senses had picked up the sharp spike in chakra levels during Naruto and Sasuke's power struggle and he pumped even more chakra into his groaning muscles to arrive on the scene before something went terribly wrong.

But when the battlefield became quiet all of a sudden, Kakashi's heart sank.

"Kakashi… I can't track their scents. It's as if their presences disappeared entirely." Pakkun, Kakashi's favorite ninken, stated solemnly.

Kakashi was close to having a panic attack, this couldn't be happening…

This couldn't be happening again.

The silver haired Jonin collapsed to his knees, and tears slowly began to leak from his eyes. Kakashi felt like an utter failure, this was all his fault. If he had dealt with Sasuke's issues properly, none of this would have ever happened.

Poor Naruto had been dragged into fixing his mess and now he was gone, completely and utterly gone.

" _Obito, my friend… Minato-sensei… I...I'm so sorry…. so very sorry."_ Kakashi thought in despair.

The broken shinobi punched the ground in heartache, causing cracks to form from the force. Pakkun stood by his master's side in a silent vigil as the man mourned his students.

* * *

" _This is it... the moment of truth. Hell won't break me, I refuse to allow it. There's no way I'll let it rob me of my sanity like all of the others."_ one cursed soul thought.

The sinner, once known as Kazuki in another life, was one of the billions damned to suffer in the nine concentric circles of Hell. The man had long forgotten the atrocities he had committed during his time on his universe's Earth, only that it had been enough to curse him for eternity.

The man's face was gaunt and his sunken eyes were filled with the knowledge of endless horror. His body was burdened with a multitude of thick chains, each one clasping onto limbs tight enough to make movement difficult.

All the man knew now was suffering.

Suffering… Pain… Horror… and Torture.

Doomed to eternal toil without reprieve in a land of noxious fumes, scorching heat and screaming anguish, as well as constant guard against the demons that kept sentry.

Level One Hell's enforcers were known as the Balrog, creatures of flame, shadow, and darkness. The demons were thrice the size of a human with the head and hind legs of a bull, draconic wings, and claws that could tear through stone with ease.

To ensure obedience and instill terror, the demons manipulated their control over fire to create a variety of weapons. Anyone who dared to step out of line was quickly pounced on and horrifically made an example of.

Unfortunately, that wasn't even close to the end of it.

The sinner would be revived in the fountain of renewal, a cesspool of lava where the damned soul was agonizingly created a new body and the process could begin once anew.

Even with all the risks however, one brave soul was willing to take the perilous jump for freedom, despite the knowledge that capture would lead to his revival in a lower level of Hell.

A fate impossible for a human to withstand.

There was a common misconception with one's sentencing to damnation, even though the term was set to last for eternity, very few souls lasted more than several hundred years.

Despite the fact that death was not final for a human soul in Hell for their body would be recreated within the fountain of renewal, the soul will eventually reach a point where the subconscious literally cannot handle anymore external stimulus.

Once this point was reached, the soul simply ceased to exist. The sinner's existence will be forever erased from the annals of the universe, never to be seen from again.

Coming back to our rebellious sinner, the man's plan was simplicity at its finest. Over the course of a few years, the sinner used his pickaxe of endless toil to slowly chip away at his chains. He deliberately performed this at a snail's pace so the Balrog would not notice, and left the chains just barely intact.

Enough to give a semblance of functionality, but a quick jerk would snap them clean off.

While terrifying in their malice and cruelty, the Balrog weren't all that bright. A bigger body did not necessarily mean a bigger brain, and the fact that their size was on a greater scale than that of a human meant that their attention to detail on such a tiny thing as a chain was dubious at best.

Add to the fact that the sinner had also spent the years memorizing the patrol routines of the Balrog, noticing the times where the concentration of demons were lowest in his area meant that he had the set of circumstances needed for a decent attempt at escape.

Now all of this planning was fine and dandy, but it meant little unless you actually knew how to escape Hell. Funnily enough however, every sinner who was able to maintain their sanity remembered the location of the portals back to the mortal realms.

Right smack dab in the center of Level One Hell was a steep plateau and on top of it was a semicircle of dimensional portals where damned human souls entered Hell from their various universes. The recently convicted souls were all chained together in a line, before being dragged by a Balrog down a long, spiral stairway to their approaching Purgatory.

The main reason that there weren't more potential Hell escapees was due to fear. The Balrog needed no justification to attack, all you had to do was look like you were plotting something and you were next. This made it practically impossible to form groups to coordinate planned escape plots, and most sinners were too cowardly to attempt to escape on their own.

The ones who tried were a special, but selective breed. When they were alive, they must have possessed a quality that made them stand out in life but unfortunately misused to actively harm others.

The rebellious sinner did a quick once over around the premises to make sure that the Balrog weren't focusing on him, before making a quick jerk and snapping his chains off. Overcome with joy but wary of alerting the Balrog, the man quickly made his way behind a burning rock, hiding himself from view so he could find his bearings and plot his course for freedom.

Once assuring himself of the correct way to proceed, he slowly began to make his way. The sinner was lucky for his assigned station was relatively close to the portals, only a few miles away. Those who were unfortunate enough to be taken to the edges of the First Cycle would never have made it without being noticed.

And the Balrog were fucking FAST.

Step by step, inch by inch, the sinner slowly progressed towards the portals. It was slow going, traveling a hundred meters every ten minutes before hiding behind another molten rock for another long duration of time, but the sinner wasn't willing to screw up just because he was impatient.

Too much potential suffering was on the line for this.

After several hours of continuing his pace, the sinner finally gained a view of his prize. The Gates of Hell, they were like a shining beacon of hope to the weary sinner, it was as if a god had heard his pleas and decided to have mercy on his poor soul.

Even better, the Balrog who was guarding the staircase was currently dragging in a new batch of sinners to be broken into the horrors of Purgatory, leaving the portals practically unguarded. The man almost burst into tears as he witnessed his good fortune, he was expecting to have to cause a distraction on the spot and dive for the portals, but his escape was almost gift wrapped.

As the man gazed upon the finish line, his mind began to wander. No matter what, he promised to do good once he made it back. Whether it was to serve the hungry, build homes for the homeless, take a knife in the chest for someone, or even walk an old lady across the street, he promised to be a better man in the future.

Never again would he suffer this fate, every precaution would be taken.

The man counted down from ten, mentally gearing himself up for the charge to freedom. The silhouette of the Balrog continued to gradually fade as the distance between the two increased.

" _NOW!"_

The sinner broke for the rocky staircase that winded around the Plateau until arriving at the foot of the Gates of Hell. Every ounce of pent up excitement and anticipation powered the energy he put into his headlong charge.

But just then, as the sinner was within ten feet of the first stair, disaster struck.

A horrible, screeching sound tore through all of Level One Hell. All eyes, from sinner to Balrog, looked up into the blood red sky from where the sound emanated from.

Cracks formed and the sky was torn asunder as a tear opened wide, releasing a massive pillar of energy that crashed into the ground and exploded with the force of a dying star. The shockwave that rang from the impact was so great that it left a crater hundreds of feet in diameter in its wake.

When the dust cleared, in the epicenter of it all laid two young humans who were severely injured and struggling to stand.

" _Ugh… my head. What happened?"_ Naruto thought as he fell onto his rear, too weary to even stand.

The journey had not been gentle, as Naruto's jumpsuit had been torn to shreds, leaving his wound-ridden torso bare. Blood freely dripped from his temples, adding to the shinobi's disheveled appearance. Out of all of it however, Naruto's right arm looked the worst for the skin was charred and terrible burn marks circled around it. Sasuke wasn't in any better shape though, his left arm being in the same state as Naruto's.

Powerful techniques when misused bred terrible consequences after all.

" _Crap… I'm feeling lightheaded. I must be suffering from chakra exhaustion."_ Sasuke thought as he slowly pushed himself to his knees.

When the Uchiha looked up and surveyed his surroundings, his eyes widened in alarm and his pulse quickened.

"W...Where the Hell are we?!" Naruto exclaimed in horror as he noticed their predicament.

" **YOU FUCKING FAILURES! OF ALL THE GODDAMN BULLSHIT YOU TWO COULD HAVE PULLED, WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THIS?! KAMI WHY?! WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?!"** Kurama roared in obscene fury.

Naruto and Sasuke jumped at the vitriol-filled roar, wondering where it had originated from before Naruto paused in shock.

"K-Kyuubi?" Naruto asked in trepidation.

" **WHO ELSE?!"** Kurama barked.

Naruto jumped once more at the sheer anger that permeated the Kyuubi's words before steeling himself to respond.

"How are you even speaking to us?" Naruto asked in incredulity.

" **When I return to the place of my origin, my powers are amplified. In this case, allowing me to voice my thoughts telepathically from within you. Speaking of which, HOW IN YOUR INFINITE STUPIDITY DID YOU MANAGE TO TEAR A HOLE INTO HELL OF ALL PLACES?!"** Kurama demanded.

"We're… in Hell?" Sasuke asked dumbfounded.

How did they manage that?

" **Yes dumbass, you two have taken us to the one place in the entire universe where I can't pull my infuriatingly incompetent container's ass out of the fire!"** Kurama answered.

"Hey! Now hold on a sec-" Naruto started, before being rudely interrupted.

" **NO, I WILL NOT 'HOLD ON A SECOND'! You imbeciles do not realize the severity of your actions! You two are still alive, yet somehow appeared in a dimension meant for the dead. You've broken so many laws of nature that I'm surprised we haven't been atomized by some indignant god for trespassing the boundaries of mortals! And worst of all, I'm still trapped inside of you! You're supposed to get yourself killed with some act of stupidity that I know you'll commit in the future, I disperse into chakra for a couple of years, reform, and then laugh in satisfaction as I crush your pathetic village into the ground for having the gall to seal me! But NOOO... you just had to drag me down with you!"** Kurama roared in indignation.

Sasuke stood uncomfortably as Naruto and his tailed beast had a lover's spat. Trying to distract himself from the awkwardness, the Uchiha's eyes wandered.

His eyes then proceeded to widen comically as he gazed upon the fear inducing scene of a charging Balrog, twirling an axe of fire in the air maliciously.

"Um… Naruto." Sasuke squeaked in fear.

His teammate, too involved in his verbal spar with the Kyuubi, didn't respond.

"Naruto…" Sasuke repeated.

Again, no answer.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke yelled, his patience finally at its limit.

"WHAT?!" Naruto roared.

" **WHAT?!"** Kurama roared.

"W-what is that?!" asked Sasuke, regaining his earlier fear for the demon that was a hell of a lot closer now.

"Huh? What do you me-oh SHIT!" Naruto squawked upon laying eyes on the figure in question.

" **DON'T JUST STAND THERE YOU IDIOTS! GET YA BALLS UP! GET ME OUTTA HERE!"** Kurama bellowed.

Naruto and Sasuke dove in opposite directions as the Balrog brought the proverbial axe down. The force of its strike was so powerful, that a chasm formed at the point of impact which extended to every end of the crater they were in.

As the cracks from the strike continued to grow, the ground beneath the two shinobi splintered, nearly knocking them off of their feet.

"H-Holy crap! That thing is really strong!" Naruto yelled in alarm.

A bead of sweat fell down Sasuke's temple as he swallowed deeply. The strength behind that creature's swing was insane, if that had connected with either one of them the result would've been ugly.

When Sasuke tried to shift himself into a better defensive position, his body erupted into an episode of excruciating pain that made him stagger. His body was thrashed from the day's events and now it was going to cost him.

The Balrog, immediately sensing Sasuke's weakness, charged forward once more. Dirt ripped out of the ground from the force exerted in its dash.

Sasuke's eyes widened in alarm as the Balrog's flame sheathed claw reared back to behead him, but he was saved by the timely arrival of Naruto's tackle. The boys rolled as a tangle of bodies out of the danger zone before crashing into the edge of the giant crater.

"You okay there Sasuke? You froze up for a second. Don't tell me the great Uchiha is scared." Naruto said with a smirk as he picked himself up.

Sasuke took a second to regain his composure before sneering back in response, although most of the heat was absent from before.

"You wish, dobe. Kami knows you need me to save your sorry ass." Sasuke retorted as he stood up beside the jinchuriki.

"Heh, you got me there. So, any ideas on how to beat this thing?" Naruto asked, as he warily eyed the pacing Balrog.

"...Nope. I'm pretty beat up from our fight and I'm almost out of chakra. This could be the end." Sasuke replied morbidly.

Naruto growled at the defeatist attitude, it wasn't over until it was over in his book, but he couldn't deny Sasuke's point for he was in the same situation.

" **Before you brats go and get yourselves killed, how about listening to some potential wisdom? We have a chance… a very small, microscopic chance… but still a chance at getting out of this alive. Nearby is this plateau that at the top sits an array of portals. Portals that lead back to the mortal dimensions. If we can get to one, we should be golden."** Kurama said hastily.

Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened at the new information, now they had a goal to strive for rather than a desperate fight for survival.

"How do you know so much about this place Kyuubi?" Naruto asked.

" **Hmph, brat if you can actually survive this. I'll consider telling you. But that's a really bi-INCOMING!"** Kurama yelled in warning.

Unfortunately, the alarm was sounded too late as the Balrog appeared before the two shinobi in an instant and viciously backhanded the duo.

Knocked senseless by the blow, the boys were unable to react to the Balrog's follow up grabbing of their necks and smashing of them into the crater wall. Naruto and Sasuke gasped in pain as the enraged demon squeezed with all its might.

" _C-Can't let this be the end."_ Naruto thought frantically as he reached into his weapon pouch.

The jinchuriki quickly brought out a kunai and forcefully stabbed it into the demon's hand, causing it to slacken its grip from the sudden jolt of pain. Sasuke took advantage of the momentary weakness by using the demon's arm to swing himself up into the air before landing a savage spinning kick into the back of the beast's head.

The added force of Sasuke's descent due to gravity allowed him to smash the Balrog head first into the ground. Despite the fact that such a move would have hospitalized a trained shinobi, the Balrog shrugged it off with ease and slashed at Sasuke, who barely slipped out of the way.

The Balrog's attention was diverted from Sasuke when its sensitive ears picked up a series of similarly sounding battle cries. It turned around only to be blindsided by a powerful haymaker to the cheek courtesy of a shadow clone.

Three more Naruto clones followed up with rising kicks to the beast's torso while the real Naruto somersaulted into the air thanks to using the first clone's back as a platform.

"U!"

"ZU!"

"MA!"

"KI!"

" **NARUTO RENDAN!"** (Uzumaki Naruto Barrage) Naruto roared as he finished off his combo with a ruthless drop kick to the ascending Balrog's cranium.

The combo finisher sent the Balrog speeding back down towards the ground, but its beating wasn't yet over as Sasuke flew up towards it courtesy of a throw from the now dispelled Naruto clones. The Uchiha had a feeling that Naruto's attack wouldn't be enough to finish off their adversary and planned in advance to keep up the pressure.

" _Let's see if this will be enough to finish it."_ Sasuke thought as he used Lee's **Kage Buyo** (Shadow of the Dancing Leaf) to appear behind the Balrog's back.

Sasuke whipped his forearm into the Balrog's side, causing it to howl in pain and flip around uncontrollably. Sasuke took advantage of his opponent's disoriented state to land a barrage of vicious strikes to various weakpoints on the demon's body.

The science behind the **Shishi Rendan** (Lion Combo) was to increase the force of the recipient's fall by causing them to spin around faster and faster with expertly placed blows to the body to keep up the momentum. Only someone with the Sharingan and excellent physical condition could pull off the move as keeping track of their aerial position, knowing the right places to strike, and the exact moment when to disengage was too strenuous for the average mind.

That wasn't to say that the move came without its drawbacks however, the user suffered almost as much fatigue and musculature damage as someone who uses the derived technique, the Front Lotus pulled off in tandem with the first of the Eight Celestial Gates.

" **SHISHI RENDAN!"** (Lion Combo) Sasuke shouted as he landed a spinning heel kick to the Balrog's abdomen at the exact moment its back made contact with the ground.

The force of the Balrog's fall was so great that it sunk several inches into the cracking ground, while Sasuke backflipped away from the landing site. Debris rose from the point of impact, hiding the fallen Balrog from view.

Sasuke stumbled on his feet when he landed and would have collapsed on his back if it weren't for Naruto coming around and helping him up.

"I've got you teme. Don't go quitting on me now." Naruto said with a cheeky grin.

Sasuke sighed in relief with the conclusion of the battle, that demon was no joke at all. It would have been a tough fight to solo on his own if he was full health, it was luck that he had Naruto on his side.

"Thanks for the help Naruto." Sasuke said simply, no backhanded comment or snide remark present to the jinchuriki's surprise.

Naruto looked at Sasuke oddly for a second, as if the boy had grown a second head. After a few moments of silence to the uncomfortable Uchiha's consternation, Naruto put his arms behind his head and grinned.

"Gee Sasuke, if I didn't know you any better I'd think that there was a heart under all of that doom and gloom of yours. Must be opposite day." Naruto remarked with a fox like smile.

"That's the last time I pay you a compliment, dobe." Sasuke growled, reddening in annoyance.

"There's the grouch that we all know and love." Naruto countered.

"Hn." Sasuke muttered, putting an end to the conversation.

The battlefield then became quiet, almost serene and peaceful if it weren't for… you know… it being Hell and all.

Until...

" **RRRRAAAGGHHH!"** came a menacing roar that reached such an intensity, sound waves created violent winds that caused Naruto and Sasuke to cover their faces in recoil.

" _WHAT?! IMPOSSIBLE!"_ Sasuke thought in alarm.

" _IT'S ALIVE?!"_ Naruto thought in horror.

" **Can't you two do anything right?!"** Kurama asked in incredulity.

The Balrog that had seemingly been defeated rose from its chasm in the ground as if it had never sustained damage, its eyes glowing a bloodlusted red that promised swift and vicious retribution. The demon's fists were clenched so tightly in rage that blood dripped from its palms and soaked the ground, which then began to dissolve due to the blood's acidic nature.

" **YOU GODDAMNED HUMANS! UNFORGIVABLE! ABSOLUTELY UNFORGIVABLE! I WILL NOT REST UNTIL I'M CHEWING ON YOUR BONE MARROW!"** the Balrog roared to the heavens, while the temperature of the battlefield soared to new heights as the beast's flame powers spiraled out of control.

"Oh shit! T-The thing can talk?!" Naruto stammered in fear.

"I-It was holding back all along. It never spoke because it didn't see us as anything more than ants until now." Sasuke gulped, stepping back from the Balrog's intense display of power.

" **YA THINK?! RUN!"** Kurama shouted in warning.

The Balrog began to suck in a massive amount of air, before breathing out a massive plume of Hellfire that closed in on Naruto and Sasuke rapidly. As the flame torrent detonated into a fierce explosion, the two shinobi frantically jumped onto the walls of the crater and used what little chakra they had left to run up the vertical surface in pursuit of the portals.

They never had a chance in Hell against the Balrog, if only they weren't stupid enough to finally realize it now.

The livid Balrog charged after the boys like a maddened bull, Naruto and Sasuke's only saving grace was that they could run much faster than the average human.

But that only meant that the Balrog would slowly gain on them, rather than catch up in an instant.

" **HUMANS!"** the Balrog roared, as it generated a fire whip and began to crack it at the fleeing shinobi.

Naruto and Sasuke ran as fast as they could while dodging the Balrog's frenzied attacks, but as the plateau began to become visible to their eyes, another ear-piercing roar made their hearts stop cold.

That horrifying sound was followed by another, and then another, and then cacophony of them, until the entirety of Level One Hell was filled with the roars. Sasuke dared to swivel his head to the side and his pupils dilated in hysteria when he saw the sight that greeted him.

Hundreds… no **THOUSANDS** of Balrog were charging in from the hills, all looking to partake in the bloodbath that was to come.

" _Fuck, Fuck, Fuckity Fuck Fuck… FUCK!"_ Naruto chanted over and over as the Balrog closed in from all sides. If Naruto and Sasuke didn't reach the stairwell to the portals in time, there would be no chance of escape whatsoever.

" **Tell me humans! Are you frightened?! Can you anticipate the agonizing feeling of having your skin flayed, your nails ripped off, and then being devoured by the horde?! That's what you have to look forward to! Just come a little bit closer so I can take you to your fate!"** the Balrog snickered with bloodlust, extending its arm outward so it could try and grab ahold of Sasuke's head.

Sasuke tried his damned hardest to keep the Balrog from catching him, but it was utter futility in the end. The demon snagged the Uchiha's head and whipped him back viciously, eliciting a cry from the shinobi.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled as he skidded to a halt.

Sasuke struggled mightily but hopelessly to get loose. The Balrog's maw widened into a malicious grin as it pulled back a flame sheathed claw to kill the Uchiha and make him a permanent resident of Purgatory.

" **YOUR TIME IS UP, HUMAN! PREPARE! TO! DIE!"** the Balrog roared with crazed eyes as it brought its claw forward to deal the final blow.

Sasuke's eyes widened in unbridled terror as he saw his life flash through his eyes. Every single one of his memories played in his mind as the claw slowly inched towards him.

His earliest memory of his parents cheering him on as he began to take his first steps...

Sitting in bed wrapped up in blankets as his beloved older brother read him a bedtime story before a long term ANBU mission...

The Uchiha massacre and the subsequent depression that came along with it, the oath that he took in front of the Naka River to slay Itachi and restore the pride of his clan, and the intense rage-fueled bouts of training to reach his goal…

Graduating from the Academy and being placed onto Team 7, all of the goddamned D-rank missions and catching that Daimyo's wife's devil cat, the A-Rank mission at Wave and the unlocking of his prized Sharingan, the trials of the Chunin Exam and the fight with Gaara...

His horrifically disastrous battle against Itachi and the shocking revelation that all of his efforts in Konoha were for nothing, the Sound Four sneaking into Konoha and offering him the power he so desperately craved if he only swore loyalty to Orochimaru, his subsequent betrayal and then Naruto's constant efforts at bringing him back that culminated into their fateful battle…

" _I… I can't die here! I can't! I have too much to accomplish! Stop! Please! NO!"_ Sasuke thought with dread as the claw was now only centimeters from his heart.

"RASENGAN!" Naruto roared with every fiber of his being as he slammed one final spiralling orb of chakra point blank into the Balrog's face, just moments before he pierced through Sasuke.

The chakra attack carried every single remaining sliver of chakra within Naruto's body, enlarging itself beyond normal, and detonated so powerfully that it carried the screeching Balrog with it hundreds of feet backwards in a spiralling vortex, until it collided into a molten boulder and lay still.

"N-Naruto… you saved my li-" Sasuke began before freezing at Naruto's subsequent collapse into the ground.

The jinchuriki's eyes were glazed over and he looked as if he wasn't breathing.

" _No… he can't be!"_ Sasuke thought in alarm as he pressed two fingers to the side of Naruto's neck, checking for a pulse.

It was a long, agonizing thirty seconds that Sasuke waited, refusing to move even in the path of a thousand more enemies like the one that nearly killed him.

Then Sasuke finally felt it, it was slow and weak, but Naruto's pulse had returned.

Let it never be said that Naruto wasn't a fighter.

"Th...thank goodness." Sasuke thought in relief, before slinging Naruto onto his back and making for the stairway to the Gates of Hell.

As the Uchiha ran up the long winding staircase, his mind wandered to the person whom he owed his life to. Sasuke vividly remembered Naruto telling him that he was just as chakra exhausted as the Uchiha was, yet when someone the Uzumaki shared a bond with fell into danger, he cast aside all worry for his well being and put his all into saving them.

Even at the risk of his own life.

" _You're an amazing person, Naruto. So much better than I could ever be. I honestly don't know what I've done to deserve this, I was a dirtbag to you and Sakura. By all means, you should hate my guts. But you actually see me as your best friend, your brother. I promise, no matter what, I won't let you die. I'll watch your back 'till the end just as you've watched mine."_ Sasuke thought determinedly, as he climbed the stairs at an astonishing rate.

The horde of Balrog approaching from the far corners of Purgatory had finally arrived and seeing no point in trying to climb the stairs themselves, they instead smashed their axes against the base of the stairway, causing it to crumble and continue its path upwards.

They could always build a new stairway anyway.

The chasm picked up its pace rapidly and slowly began to close in on Sasuke. The Uchiha saw this and put on every ounce of speed that he could muster, allowing him to reach the final straightaway to the Gates.

" _Come on! Come on!"_ Sasuke thought as he cleared the final set of stairs.

When the Uchiha reached the semicircle of portals, he paused briefly.

" _Which one should I go through?!"_ thought Sasuke in a panic.

If only Naruto was still awake, then he could've asked the Kyuubi which one was which.

As Sasuke contemplated, the plateau itself shook as the Balrog were now trying to destroy the natural feature to prevent the two shinobi from escaping.

"Fuck it." Sasuke said, before picking a random portal and taking a leap of faith.

Not even three seconds after the Uchiha jumped through, the rocky platform crumbled entirely, crashing down to the ground and kicking up dust.

The horde of Balrog jumped into the gravel in a frenzy, hoping to find the escaping pair within the rocks. However, after several minutes of searching the demons had found nothing.

In the span of an hour, the inescapable fortress of Hell had been broken into and escaped from. No greater insult could even be contemplated.

The Balrog who had been sent flying by Naruto's Rasengan finally rejoined the horde, and when it learned of Naruto and Sasuke's escape it wildly began to froth Hellfire from its maw in an episode of inarticulate rage.

" _ **Don't even THINK that this is the end, HUMANS! I will scour the entire multiverse until I find you! And when I do, HELL won't even be a fitting description of the torture I'll reap on you!"**_ the Balrog thought in unyielding rage.

* * *

Dimensional travel did not yield a pleasant experience and this was Sasuke's second time within the same day. It felt like you were being splinched through a long, narrow tube and all of your senses were thrown off completely.

Nevertheless, the Uchiha's ordeal eventually ended when there was a flash of blinding light.

The sky, that was now a normal blue with a radiant sun, was torn asunder once again and a massive pillar of energy erupted from the tear and crashed into the ground. After the resulting shockwave died down and the dust cleared, Sasuke slowly and sluggishly dragged himself and Naruto out of the newly formed crater.

" _Slow and Steady, Sasuke… Slow and Steady…"_ the Uchiha chanted to himself.

Despite the mantra however, Sasuke's legs finally gave out and the shinobi collapsed to the ground, Naruto's unconscious body rolling over to land beside him.

Sasuke repeatedly tried to push himself up, but failed every single time before giving up when he spewed a sickening amount of blood from his mouth.

" _F-Fuck… I can't give up now. I won't give up! I've got to get Naruto help or he'll die! C'mon body… GET UP!"_ Sasuke thought, blood continuing to ooze out of his olfactories.

The Uchiha's body refused to listen to him however, and the shinobi felt his eyes begin to grow heavy. Even Sasuke's obscene amount of willpower couldn't halt the tide, he was going to black out.

"...S-Somebody… help… please." Sasuke murmured, his body growing more unresponsive with every passing second.

Luckily for the Uchiha, his plea was answered as moments before he fell unconscious, his ears picked up a pair of voices.

"What in Ishgar? Is that a boy?" an unknown male voice asked.

"Seems so Toshiki-kun, two of them actually." a female voice responded.

"But why are they so beat up, Yukari-chan? Are they a part of that hoodlum guild of mages running amok in town?" the male voice now known as Toshiki said.

"Nonsense, look how young they are! C'mon, grab the other one. They need some medical attention." Yukari ordered as she picked up Sasuke's prone body in her arms.

"What?! Are you crazy?! We can't just take two random strangers to our home! What if they're killers for hire or something?! You wouldn't suspect a couple of kids!" Toshiki said.

"Toshiki-kun… You can either help me take these boys back to the farm or take a frying pan to the face when we get back. Your choice." Yukari finished sweetly.

Eto Toshiki grumbled discontentedly under his breath as he picked up Naruto, but he didn't dare argue. You don't mess with your wife unless you're looking for trouble.

The farmer had greying hair, but a tall and well-built physique that belied his age. Sunspots dotted his wrinkled and stern forehead and a shaggy beard rested on his chin. He wore a checkered flannel shirt, overalls, and boots.

Yukari was similar in age and attire, but much smaller in size. Didn't do a damn thing to weaken her swings though.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Yukari-chan. If this blows up in our face, I swear I'll haunt you for eternity." Toshiki grumbled.

"Stop being such a grump, Toshiki-kun. It'll be fun taking care of a couple of kids. You know since…" Yukari began, before choking up.

Toshiki's face softened as he comforted the love of his life. Ever since Yukari had been left barren by that botched up pregnancy all those years ago, she became depressed every time she thought of the role she could never be.

Promising to keep whatever reservations he had about the two teens to himself, Toshiki cradled Naruto in one arm before wrapping the other around his wife.

Yukari sank into her husband's embrace and the old couple ambled back to their farmstead with the unconscious Naruto and Sasuke in their arms.

* * *

 **Did you enjoy? Please leave a review!**


	2. Stratagem

**Story Synopsis:** Destiny is a funny thing… you never know how life will turn out. A proverb that Naruto and Sasuke realize when their fated clash at the Valley of the End sucks them into the Fairy Tail universe. Notions are broken as the duo face a fight for survival against the forces of a corrupt government, criminal syndicates, and Hell itself. Will the Sons of the Sage rise to the challenge?

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO, NARUTO SHIPPUDEN, OR ANY OTHER WORKS CREATED BY MASASHI KISHIMOTO. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.**

* * *

 **Chapter #2: Stratagem**

"Hmmm… this development throws quite a wrench into the Akatsuki's plans now doesn't it, Black Zetsu?" White Zetsu, the lighter half of the Akatsuki member Zetsu, asked.

" **Indeed. This poses quite a foreboding obstacle for the future. Pein-sama must be alerted immediately."** Black Zetsu responded, before the duo sank into the ground and erased their presence.

Zetsu performed the role of reconnaissance and information gathering within the criminal organization known as Akatsuki (Red Dawn). The plant like creature possessed unique abilities that allowed it to travel underground quickly for long periods of time, making it the perfect spy because of its unparalleled skill in staying undetected.

The crime syndicate's greater goal of capturing the nine tailed beasts was currently unknown to the shinobi nations, however they were used by some hidden villages as an elite bounty hunter unit or a mercenary force.

A few moments prior, Zetsu had been a silent observer of Naruto and Sasuke's battle at the Valley of the End. Pein had ordered Zetsu to keep tabs on the power growth of the Kyuubi Jinchuriki in preparation for the boy's eventual capture as well as Itachi's younger brother in case of possible recruitment or whenever he became a problem to the group at large.

The pair had been watching with interest at the constantly shifting battle, before the two teenage shinobi were quite literally sucked out of the world by a tear in the sky. Zetsu's face shifted hilariously after the occurrence, rubbing its eyes repeatedly to make sure that it wasn't hallucinating.

Upon realizing that whatever happened was reality however, the spy beat a hasty return back to Akatsuki's base of operations in Amegakure (Hidden Rain Village).

The Hidden Rain Village was a small, but heavily industrialized metropolis that was surrounded on all sides by a sizeable lake. Due to its location between three of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, it has suffered political and economic instability because of massive influxes of war refugees and repeated damage to its infrastructure.

In response, the village adopted a stringent isolationist policy and invested heavily in powerful border fortifications, making it almost impenetrable to outsiders. To be admitted into the village, even those attending the Chunin Exams, one must go through an extensive number of security checks and be under constant supervision during their stay.

Thanks to this apathy towards foreigners, news rarely travels outside of the village, causing the outside world to be alarmingly negligent of Amegakure's internal affairs. That's why it's no surprise that there is no knowledge of the Civil War which has taken place within the village's borders, a Civil War that has led to the usurpation of power by Akatsuki.

Zetsu rose out of the ground, appearing in front of the tallest tower in the village which serves as Pein's headquarters. Seeing that it has arrived at the right building, the creature dissolved back into the ground and headed up the tower through the walls.

Eventually Zetsu phased back inside of the building, entering a large shadowed chamber with a massive statue that was holding out ten fingers attached to one of the walls. Pein's greatest body, the Deva Path, was holding a conversation with a man in an orange mask, before the two turned to the recently arrived spy in surprise.

"Zetsu? Why are you here? I have not called for a meeting." the Deva Path asked.

" **Apologies, Pein-sama. But complications concerning our greater goal have arisen and I thought it pertinent to share with you."** Black Zetsu responded in deference.

"State your case then." the Deva Path commanded.

When Zetsu brought Pein and the man behind the mask known as Tobi within the loop, both shinobi's eyes widened in disbelief. Of all the things that could've occurred.

"This is very troubling news indeed. Without the Kyuubi we are doomed to failure. How could this have possibly happened?" the Deva Path asked in incredulity.

"Now, now Pein. Don't fret just yet. While I agree that this is a setback, the situation is still salvageable. Luckily Akatsuki has within their ranks the foremost expert on teleportation and dimensional travel. Give me some time and let's see if I can't track down our lost jinchuriki." Tobi replied calmly.

Pein eyed Tobi skeptically for a moment, before nodding his head in acceptance. Tobi, or rather "Madara" as he was known as to a few, had been instrumental in the reorganization and planning efforts of Akatsuki after the initial disaster with Hanzo.

While most of the Akatsuki was unaware of Tobi's true nature and Konan was iffy about the man at best, Pein trusted him fully and appreciated his input.

"See to it that you do, Tobi. True Peace will not achieve itself." the Deva Path declared, before turning back to Akatsuki's spy.

"Zetsu, summon Itachi and Kisame. I have a mission for them. We will need further resources to combat this problem and I have a certain snake in mind." the Deva Path ordered, his Rinnegan eyes gleaming in the darkness.

* * *

It was a very melancholy Kakashi who began a dispirited trek from the Valley of the End back to Konoha. The man had spent the past two hours searching the battlefield and the surrounding areas a whole ten miles in radius for any sign of his bygone students. But eventually, the grim reality hit Kakashi like a ton of bricks.

His students were gone… and they were never coming back.

The hard, unassailable truth gnawed at his insides and it hurt all the more for the fact that he knew he could have prevented it. Oh the warning signs had been present in Sasuke from the beginning. Any responsible sensei would have seen Sasuke's cold hearted disposition and bloodthirsty ambition as troubling and taken steps to address it.

But like an absolute fool, Kakashi had decided to laugh it off as if it was a joke; comparing the situation to his own and carelessly thinking that Sasuke would eventually outgrow it. However, Kakashi now realized that no matter how similar Sasuke was to him, two people would always react to the same situation differently.

While Sasuke and Kakashi had both lost their entire families at very young ages, the circumstances surrounding them were different. Kakashi's mom had died peacefully in her sleep from disease and his father committed suicide by choice.

At the very least, neither happened while he was present.

Whereas Sasuke's clan was murdered horrifically and then the boy was forced to rewatch it over and over again as part of his brother's twisted plan to mold him into an instrument for which he could test his limits. How could a man as peace loving and devoted to Konoha as Itachi commit such a heinous crime?

" _The next time I lay eyes on that man, I will kill him. That's a promise."_ Kakashi thought to himself, red filling his vision.

The impulse of burning rage quickly left Kakashi however, when he thought of his other student: Naruto. The boy who tried where he didn't even make an attempt and paid his life for it. As Kakashi continued to think more and more of the mistakes that he made with Naruto, the Jonin's depressed disposition worsened.

Naruto… he had ignored the boy outright from the start.

Kakashi had not been impressed with Naruto when he had first met him and wrote Naruto and his dream off as an impossibility, a fool's errand. However, the blond jinchuriki soon proved that the only fool was Kakashi.

It first started with Wave, Naruto was the one who orchestrated the plan to free Kakashi from Zabuza's Water Prison and despite the swordsman's tenacity, Naruto was also the one who finally outsmarted Zabuza into allowing the Jonin to escape from his own boneheaded mistake.

Further into the mission, Naruto succeeded where Sasuke, his "prized" student, failed by defeating Zabuza's protege Haku, a boy skilled in wielding the fearsome **Hyoton** (Ice Release) Kekkei Genkai. It didn't even end there as Naruto was then able to out bluff Gato's henchmen into fleeing when it would have been an easy effort to finish off the exhausted Kakashi.

Even after all of these successes however, Kakashi still ignored Naruto in favor of Sasuke, who he saw as someone who would actually take his teachings seriously, not some slacker troublemaker who could barely even graduate the Academy. The future had other ideas though, as Naruto continued to prove himself to the world that he was someone destined for greatness, someone whose potential exceeded that of even the prodigies.

It all began with Naruto's upset victory over Neji in the Chunin Exam Finals. Everyone had expected the previous Rookie of the Year to win with ease and were even placing bets on future matches between him and Sasuke or even Gaara. Yet, like the blunt hammer that the Uzumaki was, Naruto shattered all preconceived notions and snagged a win from the jaws of defeat.

Naruto then proceeded to once again beat the odds by defeating Gaara, the Suna Jinchuriki. A foe who bulldozed his way through many, including the Sasuke that Kakashi had invested a month into rigorously training.

Kakashi continued to ignore the facts in front of him however, even going as far as reprimanding Jiraiya for teaching Naruto the Rasengan, a jutsu the Jonin felt that the blond jinchuriki was too irresponsible to wield wisely.

Was this not the same guy who taught Sasuke of all people the Chidori?

Only when Sasuke had proven Kakashi's ignored fears correct did the Jonin now begin to reconsider. If he had been so wrong about Sasuke all along, then he must have been way off the mark with Naruto! Fate was truly cruel however, ripping Naruto and Sasuke out of the world when Kakashi had finally resolved to do right by them.

The knowledge that Kakashi had all of the time in the world to prevent this from even happening would hang on the man's heart forever, such incompetency was mind boggling. When the Jonin finally ended his train of somber thoughts, he noticed the Great Wall that guarded his home village approaching.

Konoha, the village filled with so much pain for his absent students, had arrived.

Kakashi was quickly waved through by the Chunin manning the entrance, and the Jonin hurriedly dashed off to the Hokage Tower to report the distressing news to their recently sworn in Hokage.

At least… he would have if it weren't for the sight that stopped him cold in his tracks.

Sakura, his third and most ignored student, was sitting on the bench where Sasuke had knocked her out, reading a book on **Iryojutsu** (Medical Techniques) with a smile on her face. When the girl noticed her sensei's footsteps, she got up and ran to him excitedly.

She was waiting patiently to give a warm embrace to the teammates who would never return.

Kakashi almost broke into tears at the thought but pulled upon all of his ANBU training to deaden his emotions. He needed to be able to present a strong front to provide comfort for his student when she learned of the terrible news.

Once he was home alone, then he could cry his eyes out.

Sakura slowed her exuberant pace once she got a closer look at the despondent expression on her sensei's face. Why was her sensei sad, wasn't the mission a success?

Weren't Naruto and Sasuke back?

When Kakashi began to explain the unfortunate turn of events, Sakura's face first froze in shock, then changed to disbelief, before finally settling on heartbreaking sorrow. The kunoichi ran into her sensei's comforting arms and began to ball her eyes out, crying out to the world about the injustice of it all.

Kakashi, despite his earlier promise, was crying right with her.

After ten minutes of this, Sakura eventually cried herself to sleep on her sensei's chest. Kakashi sighed at the predicament before picking her up bridal style and dropping his sole remaining student off at her home into the arms of her parents.

Once finished with that, Kakashi finally headed off to do what he should've done a long time ago.

* * *

Senju Tsunade was hard at work battling the incessant evil that was paperwork, however the monster knew no bounds and regenerated every so often. Despite the lack of progress however, the female Sannin kept at it to keep her mind off of the status of the Retrieval Mission.

So far the results were Pyrrhic at best. While the members of Orochimaru's Sound Four had been defeated, some of the Konoha victors were in the intensive care ward with bleak chances of survival.

Shikamaru, the recently minted Chunin who was put in charge of the mission was the least injured, merely suffering a little chakra depletion and a broken finger. Kiba had suffered a couple of stab wounds and chakra exhaustion, but he should be fine with some bandages and a little bed rest.

Choji and Neji were what worried Tsunade however, Neji was suffering a severe case of chakra exhaustion and had two large holes that punctured through his spleen and shoulder. If Neji was any less crafty, one of those could have hit his heart and ended the young Hyuga branch member.

Choji was the worst out of the bunch and the one who required Tsunade's direct assistance in healing, for he had used all three of the Akimichi soldier pills including the one that converted all of an Akimichi's body fat into a massive boost of chakra in exchange for a sure chance at death. Even with all of her expertise, Choji still had a very low chance of surviving.

The boy was lucky still, for if Tsunade hadn't sent out a team of Chunin the instant they were available to reinforce Shikamaru's squad, Choji wouldn't have had a chance at all. But then there was Naruto… something that made Tsunade's heart ache with pain as she had to wait longer and longer for a status report on her little brother.

Naruto was honestly the only reason that Tsunade had bothered to return to Konoha, the village still held too many painful memories for the female Sannin. The death of her grandfather and great uncle, the death of her little brother, the decline of her clan, and then the death of her lover which was the final dam that broke.

Each heartache sapped the vitality within Tsunade bit by bit until she was a dried out husk of her former self, constantly relying on Shizune to put her back together after every night of drinking which helped to wash away the sorrow. There were even those low times where Tsunade had contemplated ending it all for what was the point?

It was only the guilt at leaving Dan's niece behind which stopped her from going through with it.

But Naruto… he was like this radiant sun that lit up the darkness, purifying each and every one of her inner demons and giving her something to always smile about. It may have been in his rambunctious and annoying methods, but Tsunade wouldn't have it any other way.

" _I can't wait to grab that adorable little brat and squeeze him until he's blue for making me worry like this! I'll be gaining wrinkles at this rate!"_ Tsunade thought in comical anger, quickening her pace at signing documents because of it.

Tsunade only hoped that Naruto succeeded where she and Jiraiya failed. Honestly, the parallels between Kakashi's Team 7 and her old Genin team were something to wonder at, the team dynamic was exactly the same.

However, when Tsunade began to draw comparisons between Sasuke and Orochimaru, her mood soured. Tsunade knew that it was hypocritical of her to get angry with the young Uchiha over his actions for she did the same exact thing decades ago. But all of the trouble that the boy's selfish actions had created were cause for contempt.

At least when she ran off, she didn't cause her comrades to nearly die chasing after her because she was becoming a security risk by going off to join with Hanzo or something.

Tsunade shook her head to clear her thoughts, Naruto wouldn't want her to think like that. Despite all the crap that life has put him through, Naruto still had such a positive outlook on the world that it made her problems feel insignificant compared to his.

A knock at the door captured Tsunade's attention and when she beckoned the person in, it was Shizune who appeared.

"Tsunade-sama... K-Kakashi-san has arrived for a debriefing." Shizune stated, a blush appearing on her face.

The female Sannin sighed at her apprentice's antics, Shizune had developed a crush recently on the Team 7 Jonin yet she was too shy to approach him. Whatever, Shizune's love life wasn't her concern at the moment.

"Alright send him in, he's kept me waiting for hours." Tsunade ordered, while arranging her desk to be more presentable.

When Kakashi walked into her office, Tsunade was expecting the laid back, nonchalant disposition that accompanied Kakashi after a mission well done. But the man's posture was hunched and his face was despondent.

" _What in the hell happened?"_ Tsunade thought with some worry, this funk that Kakashi was in wasn't like the man at all.

"R-Reporting for a debrief, Hokage-sama." Kakashi said, forcing himself to make eye contact with his supreme leader.

"Permitted. Now what's this all about Kakashi? You look like you've seen a ghost." Tsunade asked, clasping her hands together in anticipation.

"I wish that was the case, Hokage-sama… I really do. But the fact is… N-Naruto and Sasuke are… are gone. When I arrived at the battlefield where the two were fighting, the place was eerily silent and the boys' scents had disappeared entirely. I searched the landscape for hours but… but… they've vanished. I-I'm so sorry." Kakashi reported, eyes dropping to the ground once more.

Tsunade's eyes dilated at the report and her face paled considerably, a nervous sweat breaking out on her complexion. No... this couldn't be happening... it just couldn't!

"Did you find anything… ANYTHING that could confirm their deaths? Think hard, Kakashi!" Tsunade yelled, her pulse quickening in alarm.

"No, I didn't find any bodies. However, I have a sinking feeling that Naruto and Sasuke clashed with the Rasengan and Chidori while drawing upon the power of their curses. The resulting power clash could've spun out of control and vaporized the two boys, leaving no trace at all." Kakashi responded.

At that answer, Tsunade collapsed into her chair, shrinking into herself. Naruto was gone… completely gone and she didn't even get a chance to say goodbye.

Just like all of the times in the past.

"Dismissed… Kakashi." Tsunade commanded hollowly.

Kakashi heeded her command immediately, slinking out of the office so he could wallow in his own misery in private as well.

Once the Jonin had exited her office, Tsunade broke down into raging episode of tears. Why did this keep happening to her? Was she cursed to constantly live and suffer while loved ones with big dreams kept getting offed by fate?

Naruto was so young! Even younger than Nawaki, yet that didn't stop the cold hand of fate from ripping the boy out of Tsunade's arms.

"Tsunade-sama! You have a council meeting com-" Shizune began upon opening the door to the Hokage's office, but she stopped upon seeing the broken mess that was her master.

"...M-Master? What's wrong?" Shizune asked in worry, but Tsunade couldn't control herself enough to answer.

* * *

(One Week Later...)

Jiraiya happily whistled a tune to himself as he ambled down the path to his hometown. Life was never better, he had forged a bond with the living legacy of his best student and was on the path to develop him into a man who could… no who **would** finally solve the riddle that plagued this war torn land.

Many people didn't know it, but under Jiraiya's boisterous exterior was a broken shell of a man hanging on by a thread. The Sannin had to bury two students already, both who possessed mind boggling potential and were people who Jiraiya believed could lead the Shinobi World to peace, but were cut down before their prime.

Then there was Orochimaru's betrayal, something that Jiraiya never got over as shown with his persistent attempts at tracking the man down. He would never forgive the snake for cutting down their sensei, Hiruzen deserved to die peacefully not having to sacrifice his soul to the Shinigami to protect the village. There was also Jiraiya's constant failures at wooing Tsunade, further solidifying the thought in his mind that he was forever cursed to want for happiness.

Naruto however, was the sole remaining light in Jiraiya's life. The Sannin still kicked himself for abandoning Naruto to wolves after the Kyuubi attack 13 years ago. The Third Hokage had offered Jiraiya the chance to take care of the newborn baby, but the grieving Jiraiya had just buried a man whom he viewed as a son and Naruto was like looking at a clone.

It was just too painful.

Jiraiya quite literally ran for the hills and ditched his responsibility, believing that the Third Hokage would find someone else suitable for the job and then Jiraiya could swoop in when the boy became a shinobi and train him up in another attempt to find meaning in the world.

Hopefully thirteen years would be enough to dull the pain.

However, the old and weary Sarutobi had been forced back into a job that he was ready to leave behind, causing him to make lapses in judgement while dealing with the disastrous fallout of the Kyuubi incident which ended up dropping Naruto off into an orphanage.

And a civilian run institution who had suffered the greatest percentage of deaths in the Kyuubi attack was not going to offer a nurturing environment to the one who held the object of their hatred, no matter how disarming the innocence of a newborn baby was.

When Jiraiya finally returned to train Naruto, he didn't meet the well adjusted, prodigious child that he expected to walk into, but an attention-starved knucklehead who pulled pranks to get anyone to acknowledge his existence, no matter in what way.

Jiraiya remembered the meeting he had with his sensei after that very well, the Sannin had burst through the door in a rage and demanded to his sensei what he had done. Sarutobi quite literally knocked the wind out of his sails with a well placed kick to the stomach that landed him flat on his back, and then angrily asked Jiraiya "What did you expect when you ran out on him?" with contempt in his voice. Jiraiya left the office seeing red, but acknowledged the truth in his sensei's words.

Jiraiya had no one but himself to blame.

Instead, Jiraiya decided that he could make up for lost time and threw himself into forging a bond with the young jinchuriki, becoming the mentor that the child so desperately needed and trying to fill the void that plagued both of their hearts.

Jiraiya had to admit, he wasn't expecting much from Naruto after catching a whiff of his record in the Academy, but the Uzumaki shattered his expectations. Learning water walking within a couple of hours, gaining access in drawing upon the Kyuubi's chakra, succeeding in summoning the Boss Toad, learning the Rasengan in a month, the boy was choked full of untapped potential and Jiraiya was only beginning to see the tip of it.

Now the Sannin entered the village fully set on taking the boy with him on a three year journey where they would find and break Naruto's limits together, in preparation for the ominous clouds that appeared before them.

Jiraiya wouldn't lie to himself, he was scared for the future. The events in the making were shaping up to be the greatest calamity that the world had ever known.

Orochimaru… Kumo and Iwa… and then the shadowy organization that was the Akatsuki…

" _Don't psych yourself out, Jiraiya! Orochimaru… Akatsuki… all of them, Naruto will be ready for them. Just believe in the boy and the Great Toad Sage's prophecy, if Naruto isn't the savior of this world then who is?"_ Jiraiya thought to himself.

Ah, the Great Toad Sage's prophecy, the one thing that Jiraiya both revered and cursed at the same time. It was the object that kept Jiraiya sane with all of the heartache that came with fighting in two Shinobi World Wars, but it was also the same thing that caused him pain when it cost the lives of two of his students. He only hoped that it wouldn't claim Naruto as well, Jiraiya knew all too well that he wouldn't be able to survive the loss.

"Here we go, the Hokage Tower. I wonder how Tsunade-hime is doing? Maybe I can convince her to have a drink with me." Jiraiya said while gazing upon the complex.

Hey, 5,000th time's the charm right?

The Sannin walked around the building to the side where Tsunade's window was, before jumping up high enough to reach it. Fuck the stairs, you gotta travel in style!

"Honey, I'm home!" Jiraiya joked with mirth in his eyes as he landed inside of the Hokage's office.

Mirth that promptly vanished when he noticed that the room was filled with the stench of sake and Tsunade was lying unconscious on top of her desk.

"Tsunade? What's the matter with you?! Why are you drinking on the job?!" Jiraiya asked in alarm as he shook the female Sannin awake.

Slowly, Tsunade's hazel colored eyes fluttered open and laid its gaze upon her worrying teammate.

"J-Jiraiya? Is, hic*… Is that you?" Tsunade asked unsure.

"In the flesh. Mind explaining to me what's going on?" Jiraiya asked, not impressed with the situation.

What the Toad Summoner expected was for Tsunade to either punch him into a wall or mouth off to him for his tone of voice, what he didn't not expect was for Tsunade to run into his arms and begin balling her eyes out.

It would have been everything Jiraiya had dreamed off if it weren't for the fact that he had no idea what the hell was going on.

"It's alright, Tsunade-hime. Tell the Great Jiraiya-sama what ails you so." Jiraiya said, trying to pull Tsunade out of her sorrow with a remark that he was sure she would snort at.

It didn't work.

"Jiraiya… hic*, Naruto, he's gone!" Tsunade cried in between tears.

At the ominous words, Jiraiya paused for a very long time. His heart raced at a thousand miles per second, he just couldn't accept what his ears had heard.

"W-Wait… hold on a second. What do you mean **gone**?" Jiraiya asked for clarification.

"Gone, hic* as in vanished. Something went wrong on the retrieval mission and when Kakashi arrived at the battlefield, hic*…. he found no trace of Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto is gone, hic*… we were too late to save him." Tsunade cried in anguish.

At the tone of finality in Tsunade's words, Jiraiya's heart shattered. This couldn't be happening again, Jiraiya refused to bury a third student, he absolutely **REFUSED**!

All of the pain and sleep deprivation caught up with Tsunade as she cried herself to sleep and the ever so gallant Jiraiya placed a "Do not disturb" sign in front of the Hokage's door before using the **Shunshin** (Body Flicker Technique) to drop Tsunade off at the Hokage Mansion so she could rest.

Once that was done, Jiraiya headed to the outskirts of the village and performed the **Kuchiyose** (Summoning Technique) to summon Gama, the toad in charge of the list of summoners. This was Jiraiya's last chance, if a cross, which signified death, formed on Naruto's name in the list, then the Toad Sage would truly know that the end had arrived.

He had no will to live if Naruto was gone.

"Gama… please bring out the Toad Summoner scroll. I need to check something quickly." Jiraiya said desperately.

This was the moment of truth, if Naruto was gone then Jiraiya would know that there was no saving this world. That the Great Toad Sage's prophecy was full of hot air and that the Sannin had driven three students to death for nothing.

Gama brought the scroll out of his mouth with his tongue and slowly unraveled the piece of parchment. Every second that passed as the scroll opened up in its entirety made Jiraiya fill up more and more with dread.

Jiraiya's eyes scanned the paper thoroughly, moving down the page with care until his gaze rested on the name of Uzumaki Naruto.

A name that had no cross over it.

" _T-Thank Kami! Naruto, you magnificent bastard! After all that, you're still alive! I should never have doubted you my boy."_ Jiraiya thought with immense relief, exhaling deeply as all of the pent up emotions left him in one fell swoop.

But if Naruto was alive, yet Kakashi who was a master tracker failed to pick up his scent, then where was he?

Jiraiya stood up from his crouched position on the ground, rising to his full stature of 6'6''. He stared at the sky with vindication, a new purpose burgeoning from within him.

" _I don't care how long it takes me. I will find you Naruto, I promise. I will scour the ends of this Earth to find you and will not rest until you are safe at home."_

* * *

" _I can't believe what a mess this situation has become! How could the Sound Four have been so incompetent?! Even Kimimaro has failed me… NO! I refuse to allow the Sharingan to slip out of my grasp! There has to be a way!"_ Orochimaru angrily thought, pacing around his lair in agitation.

Yakushi Kabuto, the Snake Sannin's right hand man, stood warily against the wall, safely out of the way of his master's rage fueled prancing. Orochimaru's temper had flared uncontrollably after the realization that Sasuke would not be coming.

It had been three weeks since the disaster with retrieving Tsunade. Orochimaru snarled in fury upon remembering his dimwitted teammate's and the man's pet jinchuriki's roles in causing his current predicament. If it weren't for them thwarting his plans, Orochimaru would've had his arms back and been on his way to finish off Konoha by now.

But NOOO… that fucking blond brat had to reignite the fire within Tsunade, encouraging her to once again stand firm against adversity instead of caving in like the weakling Orochimaru thought her to be. Forcing the Snake Sannin into taking drastic measures and attempting another Living Corpse Reanimation to transfer his soul into a suitable specimen.

This meant that Orochimaru would've had to wait three more years until he could take Sasuke's body for himself, but the Sannin was fine with that and had planned to use that time to train Sasuke into a formidable shinobi.

However, the man's plans were now all up in smoke.

" _Before I take any further actions, I'll have to find suitable replacements for my bodyguard. Hmmm… the results on the experiments with Suigetsu are promising, he could be one. Next there's Karin, not much combat capability but her sensory abilities might prove useful in scouting for enemies. I could always teach her some genjutsu and how to access her Uzumaki bloodline. Then we have Jugo… he's unstable but some motivation on tracking down Kimimaro's killers should keep him in line. Yes, perfect…"_ Orochimaru thought with a sinister expression.

"Kabuto! Fetch me Suigetsu and then make preparations for a trip to the Southern Hideout! We have some recru-" Orochimaru hissed, before a massive explosion shook the base and interrupted him.

Alarms immediately began blaring within Orochimaru's chamber and the computers sitting on top of the Snake Sannin's desk flashed on and switched to the Security Camera feature. When Kabuto raced forward to check who was caught on the screen, his eyes widened in alarm.

Akatsuki… and the organization had sent the devastating pair that was Itachi and Kisame.

"Orochimaru-sama, Akatsuki has found us! We need to move now!" Kabuto warned his master.

Orochimaru nodded gravely, before the two shinobi fled the room hurriedly. Not many knew it, but Orochimaru had already suffered defeat at the hands of Uchiha Itachi. The Sharingan wielder in conjunction with Hoshigaki Kisame the "Monster of the Hidden Mist" was not something that the Snake Sannin ever had plans of facing.

Add to the fact that Orochimaru's body was still weak and frail from the recent soul transfer meant that it was imperative to get the hell out of dodge.

"Kabuto come quickly, the emergency exit is this way." Orochimaru whispered, before jumping out of the hatch that led to the outside world.

However, trouble struck the moment that Kabuto followed.

" **Katon: Goenkyu."** (Fire Release: Great Blaze Ball) a voice called out.

A meteor-sized sphere of flame soared over the heads of the two fleeing shinobi and detonated with extreme force, clogging the area with smoke. The heat generated from the powerful **Katon** jutsu was so great that the flames warped the air around it.

When the smoke cleared, the **Katon: Goenkyu** left behind a towering wall of flame that blocked off Orochimaru's escape route. An impassive Itachi and a grinning Kisame landed behind the Snake Sannin and his subordinate.

"It seems that we meet again... Orochimaru." Itachi stated, not even breathing hard despite his large expenditure of chakra.

A large bead of sweat slid down the Snake Sannin's face, this was the man who had made a mockery of his power. The man who had made a mockery of several decades greater experience, the man who had made a mockery of his ultimate jutsu, the one that provides him the means to immortality.

THIS was the man who had driven his insatiable desire for the Sharingan, to master all the ninjutsu of the world and to never feel so _helpless_ once again.

"Indeed, Itachi-kun." Orochimaru purred, trying to hide his discomfort at the situation.

Meanwhile, Kabuto stood frozen like a board as he watched the scene play out before him, his body refusing to heed his commands in the face of the monstrous killing intent being exhibited by the Uchiha's shark-like companion.

" _So… THIS is power… true, unadulterated power. Absolutely wonderful… the intensity is so great that my legs can't stop shaking."_ Kabuto wondered, in true awe and fear of Kisame's chakra reserves.

The swordsman's chakra could be considered breathtaking if it weren't so fear inducing. Kisame's chakra reserves were MASSIVE, akin to a dense ocean that spanned for eternity. It seemed that the rumors were true after all, Kisame did in fact possess chakra levels rivaling that of a tailed beast.

"Hahahaha! You should learn how to pick better lackeys, snake face. Your friend over there can't stop shaking in fear. Though I can't blame him, I am pretty awesome." Kisame mocked in laughter, while Itachi rolled his eyes at his partner's antics.

Orochimaru snarled in rage at the insult, while he had a healthy respect (read fear) for the Sharingan wielder, Kisame never stopped to rile his temper. The swordsman was strong sure, but it was Itachi's cold efficacy that was the true terror of the duo.

Still the Snake Sannin thought better than to correct Kisame, instead trying to think of a way to give Itachi the slip.

"Alright listen up freak, I'll make this quick because I can't stand to look at your ugly mug. Pein-sama requires your immediate return to Akatsuki's ranks. Some complications came up that will require your network of contacts and scientific knowledge. Know this however, if you refuse and somehow escape us today, Pein-sama himself will track your ass down. Choose wisely." Kisame explained with a bloodthirsty smile, grabbing the hilt of Samehada in anticipation for Orochimaru's expected refusal.

Orochimaru gulped visibly at the ultimatum laid before him, he would've cursed if he wasn't so on edge. There was no chance for escape now, not with the potential consequences.

For all of Orochimaru's wariness at tangling with Itachi and Kisame, Pein was a whole new level of suicide. The Snake Sannin was arrogant but never think for a second that he was stupid, Orochimaru could see the writing on the wall.

Join us or spend the rest of your days being hunted down like a dog.

"Hmm... you two gentlemen don't give me too much choice now do you? Well alright then, if you insist I may as well." Orochimaru responded with a sickly sweet smile, already designing plans for betrayal when it best suited him.

Kisame frowned at the response and even Itachi blinked in surprise. Neither had expected the arrogant Sannin to fold so easily and the Mist swordsman was disappointed at the lack of a chance to spill some blood.

"Hn, if that is all then let us go. Pein is awaiting your return. Bring your subordinate with you, we do not want loose ends." Itachi said in monotone, before leading the way back to Amegakure.

Kisame shot Orochimaru another dirty look before heading off with his partner, the Snake Sannin and Kabuto following closely behind. Orochimaru schemed to himself, trying to think of a way to slip out of this mess.

" _Hmm… unfortunately I'll have to play it safe for now. Pein will most likely be sniffing for betrayal and I don't want to put myself in the doghouse too soon. I'll play nice for now and bide my time, probing for any potential weaknesses. But watch out Akatsuki, if you make any wrong step I'll pounce on you with a vengeance!"_ Orochimaru thought, smirking to himself.

* * *

" **Naruto…"** a voice growled out.

The person in question did not respond.

" **NARUTO…"** the voice called out even louder.

Still no response.

" **NARU-oh for the love of god. WAKE UP DUMBASS!"** a familiar voice rang out.

The blond jinchuriki's eyes shot wide open and he soon noticed that rather than awakening in Konoha like he expected to, he was floating on top of the familiar sewer water that filled the Kyuubi's prison in his mindscape.

"K-Kyuubi? What am I doing in here?" Naruto asked, bleary eyed. When the jinchuriki tried to stand up, his body erupted in a debilitating episode of pain and Naruto collapsed face first back into the water.

Summoning his inner force of will, Naruto ignored the pain and stood up shakily, swaying side to side in exertion. Naruto soon noticed that his entire body was wrapped up in bandages, the only part of his wardrobe that remained was his tattered jumpsuit trousers.

Soon the jinchuriki put two and two together, the only reason that he would be this injured was if everything that he thought he dreamt of was actually real. He and Sasuke had actually ripped a portal through dimensions into Hell of all places, fought a demon, lost to and ran away screaming from said demon, and then all he could remember next was socking that monster in the face with a Rasengan for trying to kill Sasuke before blacking out.

" **Feeling weak? Suffering pain in places that you never even knew existed? That's good, because you deserve it. WHAT IN THE HELL POSSESSED YOU TO ATTACK A GODDAMN BALROG WITH A RASENGAN?!"** Kurama roared in fury, his idiotic container was going to get him killed but he would not stand for it.

Naruto winced in fright from the shockwaves that emanated from the power behind his tailed beast's roar. Despite the well-placed fear that welled from within him, Naruto dug deep into his core and pulled out the courage needed to stand up to the Kyuubi.

"Well what else was I supposed to do?! That demon would've killed Sasuke if I hadn't acted!" Naruto explained, defending his actions.

" **SO WHAT?! FUCK THAT STRIPLING UCHIHA! IF YOU DIED THAT MEANS I DIE WITH YOU! AND IF YOU DIED IN HELL, WE WOULD HAVE BEEN STUCK THERE FOR ETERNITY!"** Kurama yelled at his jinchuriki.

"What's your problem?! He may not mean much to you, but he's my comrade! And as long as I live I promise to never leave one behind!" Naruto yelled back, crossing his arms in indignation.

A vein popped out of Kurama's temple, he couldn't believe the idiocy behind his container's words. Sacrifice yourself for someone else? HA! What a laugh!

"Besides, what's the big deal? If I'm talking to you, then that must mean that Sasuke got us out of there alive. Everything's all right now, no need to worry." Naruto said with a grin, pulling his arms behind his head.

" **You goddamn dunce… EVERYTHING'S NOT "ALRIGHT"! You may not be able to notice because you're unconscious, but I've been around long enough to know that this is NOT the Konoha that I know and hate with every fiber of my being!"** Kurama shouted.

At that remark, Naruto froze. No… that couldn't be… that couldn't be true! The Kyuubi was just messing with him, he had to be!

If they weren't in Konoha, then where in the hell where they?

"Y-You're… you're lying. You have to be! How could you know that we're not back in Konoha anyway?" Naruto asked skeptically, trying to hide the mounting horror in his voice.

Kurama stared at his container in shock for a moment, before slapping his paw on his face and laughing… HARD. But it wasn't just any laugh… no, it was a laugh devoid of sanity. A laugh that chilled Naruto to the bone.

" **You poor, deluded fool…For the first time I've ever started speaking to you, I can actually say I'm not lying. I can tell because if we were back in our own universe, I'd be able to sense my brethren all across the continent. But guess what? I CAN'T SENSE JACK SHIT RIGHT NOW! All that I can sense is that there's something in the air, and it sure as hell ain't native to where we come from. Which means that your friend Sasuke chose wrong and it's because of YOU."** Kurama snarled in derision.

Naruto's eyes widened at the berating tone and began to wonder if the Kyuubi's accusations had some merit to them.

"How so?" Naruto asked in apprehension.

" **Because you had to play the hero and get yourself knocked out, I couldn't communicate with the outside world. I was stuck helpless inside of you, but able to watch every moment as your friend made a panicked decision and stepped into the wrong portal. If you had forsaken your friend, I would have been able to tell you the right one to choose from and we would have been home free."** Kurama explained.

Naruto withdrew into himself for several moments, warring within himself. Logic and Passion battled incessantly within him as Naruto tried to balance out the differing opinions inside of his head of what he should have done.

Should he have ditched Sasuke and saved himself?

Or can he be content with saving a friend but dooming them both?

Eventually, Naruto rose his head and locked eyes with the Kyuubi. But the tailed beast was shocked to see the jinchuriki's eyes shining with resolve rather than broken defeat which would have left him ripe for manipulation.

"It doesn't matter. At the end of the day, I will stand by my code. I'll never forsake a friend if it's the last thing I'll ever do." Naruto said with such determination that the Kyuubi was taken aback for a second.

Kurama eyed Naruto curiously, this human was something special. In the centuries that Kurama was alive for, he had witnessed many wicked things that humans were capable of.

And each act became worse than the last.

However, Naruto was somehow different. In all his time, Kurama had never seen a human as purehearted and genuine as Naruto ever was, constantly making him wonder if it was all a facade or reality.

He would have to see.

" **Hmph, fine. Believe what you want, but it doesn't change the fact that we're stuck here with little chance of returning."** Kurama responded despondently.

All the tailed beast wanted was his freedom, was that too much to ask?

Instead, he had to deal with some Uchiha with a god-complex using that accursed Sharingan of theirs to control him, forcing him to attack Konoha unwillingly and leading him to be sealed up within a human on two different occasions.

Honestly, Kurama had it good now within Naruto's mindscape as compared to before. Within his two prior jinchuriki, Kurama had been chained to a metal wall and staked through his stomach, tails, and various appendages.

And people wonder why Kurama was so pissy all of the time.

"Why is that? Sasuke and I can just create another tear into Hell and take the right portal this time." Naruto asked in confusion.

" **No… No! Do NOT do that! Under ANY circumstances! Do you understand?! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!"** Kurama yelled in alarm, eyes widening at the ridiculous bravado his container was showing.

"What are you getting so worked up for? We were able to escape Hell and while INJURED might I add! I think that once Sasuke and I are back to full strength it should be a cakewalk." Naruto countered.

" **You fool… you have absolutely no idea of the horrors of Hell! You two haven't even begun to experience its depths!"** Kurama berated.

"Explain it to me then! I remember you promising to start giving answers if we escaped, so start talking! All of these half answers are getting on my nerves!" Naruto said in annoyance.

Kurama snarled at the demand, his pride flaring at being demanded of by a human. But the situation was dire enough to have to swallow his hubris.

" **All right you little shit… it's time you learned the vastness of our existence. Maybe then you can learn some humility. Hell is not one single entity, it is broken into nine different levels, each one being worst than the last. The Hell that you "escaped" was merely the front door."** Kurama explained.

Naruto blinked in shock at the answer. There were nine different Hells?

"How is that even possible?" Naruto asked in confusion.

" **Beats me, just know that you were extremely lucky to have ended up where you did. If you had punched through into a lower circle like I have in the past, you would not be standing here today."** Kurama said.

"You've been to Hell before?" Naruto asked in interest.

" **...Unfortunately I have, but that is not an experience that I ever want to repeat. I was an excitable young kit who was trying to test out the limits of his power. However, I was reckless in my haste and got dragged in the same way you two did. But due to my much greater power, I went all the way to Level Nine. THAT, my foolish jinchuriki, is TRUE Hell."** Kurama answered, shuddering at the memories.

Naruto raised his eyebrows in alarm at the Kyuubi's change in attitude. What was so bad about the lowest cycle of Hell that the Kyuubi of all people shuddered in fear?

"What was down there?" Naruto asked.

" **Not what, WHO. Level Nine is the realm of Lucifer, the Lord of the Underworld. I will tell you first hand that there are few who can match his power. His strength is so great that the nine tailed beasts would fall before him with ease."** Kurama said in an ominous tone.

A bead of sweat fell down Naruto's temple... no that couldn't be even remotely possible. Such a power shouldn't even exist! The Kyuubi's chakra was the most terrifying force of power he'd had the displeasure of sensing, even in the face of shinobi like the three Sannin, Itachi, and Kisame.

Yet apparently there were eight more beasts of the Kyuubi's caliber and somehow all of them combined would be handily crushed by one person?!

What… in the fuck?

" **But Lucifer is the last of your problems, for if you can even reach him I'd say you're one lucky son of a bitch. As I said before, the nine levels of Hell are an abode for the most horrifying of demons that come in all shapes and sizes. I'll put it into context, the demons who reside in only the first three levels of Hell would prove difficult for an experienced Jonin to defeat."** Kurama continued.

Naruto gulped visibly at the warning. The jinchuriki keenly remembered the awe inducing strength that Kakashi had displayed during his battle against Zabuza in Wave Country. The Genin of Team 7 had been frozen in fear from the terrifying killing intent being exhibited by the warring shinobi.

While Naruto had made massive strides in improvement, he knew that he was still nowhere near the power threshold of a Jonin. The fact that the demons of the upper levels of Hell were that strong was intensely worrying.

Maybe the Kyuubi's warnings weren't so full of hot air after all.

" **As you move further down, the strength of Hell's demons grows considerably. The middle levels of 4, 5, and 6 possess demons who could fight Kages to a standstill. Then from levels 7 and onward, Hell's demons can rival that of the tailed beasts. A thousand years ago, the nine tailed beasts used to be a single entity, the Juubi, with chakra equal to all of us combined. This knowledge has been lost to the humans of our universe, but the Juubi originated from the lowest level of Hell. It was sent by Lucifer himself to wipe out our Earth and prepare the way for his demons to colonize, however the Sage of Six Paths thwarted his plans by defeating the Juubi and splitting it up into the nine before sealing its body into the moon."** Kurama finished.

"H-Holy crap…" Naruto muttered, eyes widening in realization.

" **Do you understand the gravity of the situation now? If we punch back into Hell now, the Balrog will recognize you and call for reinforcements. There is absolutely NO way you can survive the stronger demons at your current strength, PERIOD!"** Kurama said.

"Then what do we do? Is this it, do we just give up and live the rest of our lives in an unknown land?" Naruto asked in frustration.

" **No, I didn't say that! I just said not to be hasty! If you want to make it back to our original universe, then you need to get stronger, A LOT fucking stronger! Power that would make the five Kages think twice about facing you, that's the only way you and the Uchiha would survive long enough to make it back to the portals again. We have to be smart about this, rushing in half cocked will end horribly for us. It's all or nothing at this point."** Kurama countered heatedly.

Naruto nodded in agreement, this was what he was talking about! There was no giving up, not in his book! He was going to be the Hokage one day, he couldn't just sit around stuck in another universe.

Naruto could already picture it now, once he and Sasuke made it back, he'd be so strong that everyone would gush about him! With his strength he'll gain Kaka-sensei's and Pervy Sage's respect, Sakura's heart, and the village's adoration!

"All right then, now we're speaking my language! So what's the plan?" Naruto asked in excitement.

" **Rip the seal."** Kurama said bluntly.

At that response, Naruto's excited expression deflated quickly. Instead, it was replaced by comical anger as he ranted at the Kyuubi.

"How stupid do you think I am?!" Naruto asked, infuriated.

" **Pretty stupid."** Kurama said with a grin, oh how pushing this orange idiot's buttons was one of his favorite pastimes.

"Shut up you asshole! So after all that you're just trying to trick me into releasing you, huh?! Well you've got another thing coming, bastard!" Naruto ranted.

" **As amusing as watching a little stripling such as yourself work himself into a frenzy is, this is not the time and place for it. I told you before that I have nothing to gain by tricking you. I don't have the chakra control you humans have to allow me to only break into the lowest level of Hell. All I'd accomplish is allowing myself to fall into Lucifer's clutches once more and that is a fate that I will never suffer again."** Kurama explained.

"Then why ask such a thing of me?" Naruto asked.

" **Perhaps I should rephrase my statement. I meant tear off a small piece. In doing so will allow me to pour a much greater amount of chakra into you. This will speed up your recovery process as well as add some improvements. Once healed I will immediately begin training you for the day of our eventual return to Hell."** Kurama answered.

Naruto eyed the Kyuubi skeptically, all his life he had only heard stories of the terrible deeds that this beast had committed. Naruto's entire life was one of misery thanks to the Kyuubi and yet the jinchuriki was now being asked to put his trust into him?

The phrase "Deal with the Devil" constantly played through his mind as Naruto weighed his options. However, Naruto eventually fell into a state of resigned acceptance.

While Naruto could tell the Kyuubi to shove it and try and do this his own way, the truth of the matter was that Naruto would most likely need the Kyuubi's chakra again in the future and telling the tailed beast to piss off was probably counterintuitive to that.

Plus, Naruto knew all too much that he was not a disciplined person. He had only started improving himself once he had teachers to guide him along the way.

As much as Naruto didn't like it, the Kyuubi was the most powerful being he had ever met. And to potentially face a being who was even stronger than the Kyuubi was going to require the tailed beast's help in preparing him.

" _I just hope that this doesn't come back to bite me in the ass."_ Naruto thought unhappily.

"Alright fine. You've got a deal Kyuubi. But know this, I refuse to allow you to run wild. This is my body and so we're going to play by my rules, got it?" Naruto demanded, to which the Kyuubi sneered in response.

Who did this little human think he was trying to boss around the mightiest of the tailed beasts?

" **You've got a lot of nerve, brat. You should be on your hands and knees groveling in gratefulness for me bothering to give you any of my power. What makes you think that an arrogant little stripling such as yourself has any right to command me?"** Kurama snarled.

"Because if you don't, I'll take us both down. Try and get back home on your own if you can even reform." Naruto threatened with steel in his voice.

Kurama paused at the threat, inwardly cursing at his container's shrewdness. Could he even reform in a different universe? Even if he could, Kurama would still be fucked if he tried to cross over. As painful as it was to admit it, Naruto was the victor in this exchange.

But no way in hell was this over, not even in the slightest.

" **Tch, you have your goddamn promise brat. But don't even think for a second that this is over. Make one mistake, one slip, and I'll pounce on you like there's no tomorrow. Deal?"** Kurama growled.

"Deal." Naruto agreed, inwardly sighing in relief.

With the agreement made, the jinchuriki was lifted up to the paper seal in the middle of the Kyuubi's cage by a miniature typhoon. Naruto took a breath to steady himself for what he was about to do, before ripping off about a tenth of the seal.

For a few moments there was silence in the mindscape, before Naruto felt a pulse of excruciating agony erupt from within him. His body became engulfed in a fiery red aura of demonic chakra, and the pain was so great that Naruto fell back onto the ground and writhed in agony.

Kurama grinned savagely at the sight, that'll teach that little stripling not to mouth off at him.

" **Oh yes, I forgot to mention. You'll go through quite a bit of torment as my chakra alters your body. Your healing factor is being amplified, your chakra network is being expanded to increase your chakra reserves several fold, and all physical imperfections are being corrected as we speak. Try not to move in your normal rambunctious manner for a while as you'll find your motor skills to be a bit off when you awaken. Ta Ta."** Kurama farewelled in a malicious sing song voice.

"D-Damn... y-you... K-Kyuubi." Naruto gasped out, before returning to his writhing.

" **Too late, I've already been there."** Kurama cackled as Naruto's vision began to blur and fade, before he slipped back into unconsciousness.

* * *

Naruto's eyes shot open once again and he sat up quickly in alarm, swiveling his head back and forth to check his surroundings. The jinchuriki soon regretted his actions as a strong sense of vertigo overcame him, making his head spin.

" _If that fucking bastard thinks that he has had the last laugh, then he's got another thing coming."_ Naruto thought, while feeling like he was going to throw up.

After a few moments, Naruto eventually regained control of himself and slowly blinked his eyes to take in his surroundings once more.

The jinchuriki found himself wrapped up in bandages as before, but this time he was sitting upright in a plainly designed but comfortable bed. As Naruto continued to look around, he realized that he was in someone's bedroom.

The room was sparsely decorated, containing a simple dresser, a mirror, a rug, and the bed that Naruto was sleeping on.

Naruto's gaze eventually reached his right side and when he looked down he saw Sasuke, heavily bandaged like he was, but sleeping peacefully in a makeshift cot.

" _Thank goodness you're alright, Sasuke. You may be a bastard sometimes, but thanks for getting me out of there. Means a lot coming from you."_ Naruto thought with a grin.

Naruto, amazed at the lack of pain or soreness accompanying a serious beating, decided to swing himself out of bed so he could figure out what was going on.

That was where the jinchuriki fell flat on his face.

" _What the Hell?"_ Naruto thought in surprise.

Naruto tried several more times without success to push himself upright, but his body was incredibly unwieldy. His body felt much heavier than before and his arms and legs felt like wet noodles.

" _What is going on?! I can't control my body! Is this what the Kyuubi meant?"_ Naruto thought, struggling to pick himself up.

After several more minutes of bungling around and causing a racket, Naruto was finally able to stand on his own two feet. Meanwhile, all of the noise had awoken Sasuke but when the Uchiha laid his eyes on his teammate, Sasuke's expression morphed into one of shock.

"N-Naruto… is that you?!" Sasuke asked in surprise, rubbing his eyes to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating.

"Did you hurt your brain or something? Of course it's me!" Naruto asked in annoyance.

"But… how did you get so big?" Sasuke asked incredulously, pulling himself up to stand eye to eye with Naruto, or rather forehead to nose.

Naruto blinked in confusion until he realized what Sasuke was getting at. His gaze which used to be level with Sasuke's chin was now looking over the Uchiha's head.

Naruto's muscles were also a good deal more defined, while not bulky in the slightest, they were lean and mean. The jinchuriki's blonde hair also grew, his spiky, blond locks now falling in front of his face as bangs as well as reaching the nape of his neck.

" _Huh, looks like the Kyuubi's chakra gave me a growth spurt. Cool."_ Naruto thought with a grin, comparing his newfound height with Sasuke much to the Uchiha's annoyance.

" **Not necessarily just a growth spurt, brat. This body is where you would've have been had you not suffered malnutrition as a child. I'd say you've gained about four or five inches and maybe 15-20 lbs in muscle. Your healing factor and chakra reserves have been multiplied as well, you can probably now heal a wound that would have taken you an entire night in seconds. Your welcome."** Kurama explained.

" _W-Wow, I don't even know how to thank you."_ Naruto responded.

" **Survive long enough to get me out of here, that's how you can thank me. Anyway, you'll need to spend some time doing some physical conditioning to get used to your body. Since I used chakra to enhance your body rather than you doing it yourself, your nervous system didn't adjust properly so it'll take a little while before your coordination is back to normal. But overall, I think it'll benefit you in the long run."** Kurama answered.

" _You got it."_ Naruto said, before being brought back to reality by Sasuke's snapping his fingers in his face.

"What happened there? You blanked out for a second." Sasuke asked.

"Sorry about that, I was just thanking the Kyuubi. He's the reason for all of the improvements that you now see. We're going to need to be a whole lot stronger to break back into Hell." Naruto answered.

"Wait… what do you mean by break back into Hell? Do you mean to say that I picked the wrong portal?!" Sasuke asked in rising alarm.

Naruto sighed and began to fill Sasuke in on their current predicament. Once he was all caught up, the Uchiha backed up against the wall in deep contemplation.

" _Shit, this is not good. Not good at all. How can the world be so vast?! My vendetta with Itachi feels so insignificant now."_ Sasuke thought.

Naruto leaned against the wall next to Sasuke and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry man, I know this sucks but look on the bright side. We're in a whole new land, the likes of which no one has seen before. The adventures to be had must be countless. Might as well enjoy the ride while we're here." Naruto said.

"Tch, only a dumbass like you can always see the good things in life." Sasuke commended in a backhand manner, causing a vein to bulge in Naruto's temple.

The two shinobi were soon embroiled in childish brawl, a dust cloud forming from their immature antics.

"Oi… what's all the ruckus about?" Toshiki's voice called out as he walked into the room, his sleep interrupted because of Naruto and Sasuke's rough housing.

Toshiki had to hold in a laugh when he saw Naruto and Sasuke at each other's necks, pulling each other's hair and cheek to cause the maximum amount of pain to each other.

"Hey, Yukari-chan! Get a look at this, the youngsters are awake!" Toshiki called out into the hallway.

"I'm coming, I'm coming! I'm not as young as I used to be, you know." Yukari said upon entering the room, before laughing along with her husband at the two teens antics.

Sasuke eventually paused from trying to knock Naruto's lights out when he noticed the elderly couple's laughter, their voices matched the ones he heard before he blacked out.

"Oi, dobe. Quit it, we've got company." Sasuke whispered while trying to pry Naruto off of him.

The jinchuriki quickly stopped when noticed the chuckling elderly pair as well, awkwardly rubbing his head and putting on a big smile.

"Um… good morning. We appreciate the help." Naruto said hesitantly.

"My, my, what good manners. You're such a gentleman, aren't you sweetheart. But look at you, I swore you were smaller when I carried you here." Yukari finished in confusion as she gave Naruto a once over.

"Heh, what can I say? I've got good genes." Naruto said, to which Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Well then you two, there's a bathroom to your left. Wash up and then come down for breakfast. You two must be famished after sleeping for a week straight." Yukari said with a giggle, before exiting the room with her husband in tow.

" _A WEEK?!"_ was all Naruto and Sasuke could think of.

* * *

The Balrog shivered in fear as it gazed upon the place of its judgement, looking down imperiously as if it possessed the gaze of Lucifer himself. After Naruto and Sasuke's miraculous escape from Purgatory, the Balrog who the duo had escaped from was summoned down to Level Four Hell for its fate to be decided.

The demon stood in front of the entrance to the tower where Level Four's sovereign and his commanders resided. The tower rose high into the sky, its spiky, obsidian exterior piercing into the dark purple moonlight that stood as the atmosphere.

The sky was cloudy and constantly shifting, its temperature cool compared to the scorching heat that was Level One. Don't let the calm climate fool you however, for no normal human could survive down here.

After all, the human musculature would be torn to pieces after exposure to five times the gravity of Earth.

Only the Balrog's powerful physical fortitude and resilience allowed it to stand upright and even still it was a struggle to move forward at a brisk pace.

The demon pushed forward and climbed the spiraling staircase to the top of the tower, before arriving at the door that held the throne room. The Balrog's fate was in Hell's mercy now.

Mercy that Hell did not have.

The Balrog pushed open the throne doors slowly, before walking up and kneeling in deference to Level Four's ruler and the lieutenant that the sovereign was speaking to.

" **Lord Xandohr, I have come as you have requested."** the Balrog said, trying to mask the fear in its voice.

Lord Xandohr, the Ruler of Level Four Hell, shifted his regal scarlet gaze onto the Balrog that prostrated itself before him. Burning rage flared from within him and a powerful wave of purple lightning erupted out of the Demon Lord's fingertips.

The Balrog shrieked in agony as the electricity surged all over its body. The demon's thick hide began to smoke and the smell of ozone filled the air as the creature writhed on the ground.

" **My, my, enough already milord. You'll kill the poor beast if you keep this up."** Lieutenant Shoko, Lord Xandohr's most prominent commander, commented.

The female demon was exquisite, her figure at the pinnacle of perfection. Shoko's skin was an alluring lavender complexion and she possessed flowing, white hair. She stood at six feet even and her scarlet eyes were piercing.

The Lieutenant wore a pristine attire of obsidian and purple armor that hugged her curves. A double edged spear was sheathed on her back, completing the combat garb.

" **Do not presume to command me, Lieutenant Shoko. This stupid creature is under my authority, its failures are mine as well and that means a reprimand from the higher ups. Remember your place, unless you want to be on the receiving end as well."** Lord Xandohr snarled.

Lieutenant Shoko took a deep breath to calm herself, Lord Xandohr was a tough one to get through to when enraged. She had to be careful in her approach.

" **All I'm saying is give the Balrog a chance to explain itself. In all of Hell's existence, no one has ever escaped it. No matter if it was the first level, those humans must have been extraordinary."** Lieutenant Shoko explained calmly.

The Demon Lord eyed his subordinate for a moment, before halting the flow of his lightning and allowing the Balrog to skitter behind Shoko.

" **Very well, Lieutenant. We shall try this your way. Balrog, state your case! If this doesn't impress me, you'll wish I'd have finished you off."** Lord Xandohr commanded.

The Balrog took a few moments to calm down its heart rate, that had been way too close. Lord Xandohr was not one to keep waiting however, so the Balrog forced itself to speak.

" **Milord, the humans that escaped us… they were special. They possessed unnatural strength and techniques, one of which could clone himself and conjure a powerful orb of energy to bludgeon his enemies. Had they not been so severely injured prior to arrival, the outcome would have been worse."** the Balrog said hurriedly.

The Demon Lord and his lieutenant blinked in surprise at the response. The humans had caused this much of a mess while weakened? What madness did they come from that allotted such power?

" **Hmm… Interesting. There may be more to these humans than I thought."** Lord Xandohr said in contemplation.

" **Milord?"** the Balrog asked in confusion.

" **Balrog, once you and the rest of your kind have finished the repairs in Purgatory, track these two humans down and bring them to me. If you succeed, my transgressions against you shall be forgotten."** Lord Xandohr ordered.

The Balrog nodded thankfully at the order, relieved at the chance for redemption. The fire demon quickly made its way out of the throne room, closing the doors in a hurry.

Lieutenant Shoko narrowed her gaze at the Demon Lord. What kind of game was he playing?

" **Milord, why did you make such a request? If the humans interest you that much, you should've sent a task force or at least a higher level demon. Sending the singular Balrog that they outsmarted will not end well for the beast if the humans are back at full strength."** Lieutenant Shoko asked in confusion.

" **I know."** Lord Xandohr answered bluntly.

" **Then wh-"** Lieutenant Shoko continued before she was interrupted.

" **I did so because this is the beginning of an ambitious game. None of which are the likes that those humans have ever seen before. Forget that foolish Balrog, the creature's fate is what it deserves for failing me."** Lord Xandohr explained, rising from his throne and straightening to his full stature.

The Demon Lord was eight feet tall and was garbed in an immaculate obsidian and purple armor with spiky protrusions. Xandohr's skin was a lavender shade which was given character by the scar that ran across his cheek. Xandohr's gleaming scarlet eyes rounded off his imposing face, the Demon Lord possessed a gaze that could look straight through your soul.

Luscious, flowing white hair ran down the length of his back and a pair of horns extended from his cranium, resembling the crown that suited his status.

A large broadsword, which rested on the Demon Lord's throne, was hefted up and swung experimentally in the air. Lord Xandohr released the rein on his menacing power, causing a fierce purple aura that cracked the ground below him to emerge and strengthened the force of his swing so much that powerful winds swirled around him like a tempest.

" **I will test these two humans... by throwing more and more enemies at them, each one stronger than the last. If they survive… and reach a suitable level in strength, I shall appear before them in all of my glory. And once I vanquish the duo, I shall play the role of the benevolent Lord who offers them the chance to serve at his side. They will then tell me where they gained their power and lead to my ascension to the very top."** Lord Xandohr finished with a sinister grin, one filled to the brim with avarice.

Lieutenant Shoko sighed in resignation at hearing her master's dreams of grandeur once again. Ever since that fateful day all those centuries ago when she had proven herself to Lord Xandohr, the sovereign had shared with her the goal that drove him.

Rise to the pinnacle of prestige… surpass King Lucifer himself in power and take for himself the ultimate throne of Hell.

While Lieutenant Shoko held fierce pride in her abilities, she held no illusions that Lord Xandohr's forces would ever be able to reach that goal. The jump in power between Levels 4-6 and 7 was massive, Shoko dreaded to think of the gap between 4 and 9.

However, the female demon had promised herself to stand by her master's side for all of eternity. After all, for the man that enabled her to rise above the misogyny of their kind...

She would do anything, anything at all.

" **As you wish, milord. Is there anything else that you require of me?"** Lieutenant Shoko asked, putting that train of thought behind her.

" **Hmm...no, I believe that is all. Return to your quarters, I shall summon you if I am in need your services."** Lord Xandohr dismissed.

The lieutenant bowed to her liege before shuffling out of the room. Meanwhile, Lord Xandohr gazed at his retreating subordinate's swaying hips, shapely figure, and alluring lavender complexion with interest and a tiny bit of lust.

" _ **Oh my dear Shoko, how truly lovely you are. However, I cannot afford to distract myself. Not until I've fulfilled my destiny."**_ Lord Xandohr thought, while striding up to a window.

The Demon Lord folded his arms behind his back as he looked over his vast kingdom. Many would've been satisfied, but the sovereign's avarice constantly prodded for more, his greed never feeling satisfied.

" _ **Let the games begin."**_ Lord Xandohr declared.

* * *

 **Did you enjoy? Please leave a review!**


	3. Advance

**Story Synopsis:** Destiny is a funny thing… you never know how life will turn out. A proverb that Naruto and Sasuke realize when their fated clash at the Valley of the End sucks them into the Fairy Tail universe. Notions are broken as the duo face a fight for survival against the forces of a corrupt government, criminal syndicates, and Hell itself. Will the Sons of the Sage rise to the challenge?

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO, NARUTO SHIPPUDEN, OR ANY OTHER WORKS CREATED BY MASASHI KISHIMOTO. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.**

* * *

 **Chapter #3: Advance**

"Wow, I'm stuffed! Yukari-baachan is a goddess at cooking!" Naruto remarked in contentment, rubbing his stomach in satisfaction.

"Hmph, I think you enjoyed it a bit too much. Ten helpings of pancakes, three plates of eggs, a whole side of bacon, and a gallon of orange juice? I'd say you were Choji if I didn't know you any better." Sasuke commented in feigned disgust.

"Oi! I'm a growing boy, I'll have you know. It's the Kyuubi's fault, whatever he did to me made me this way." Naruto deflected.

" **Why you lyin'? You've had this sickening habit ever since you stepped foot into that ramen stand."** Kurama said telepathically.

The Kyuubi had come to realize that he had gained a much greater ability to exert his influence on the outside world thanks to sharing his chakra with Naruto. One new skill was now being able to speak telepathically to anyone other than his jinchuriki. Kurama was excited at the potential for new stimulus after decades of sensory deprivation and planned to abuse this new freedom maliciously.

"What the hell, Kyuubi? You're supposed to be on my side." Naruto balked.

" **I recall saying no such thing. Unless I have to save your ass from dying, you're on your own."** Kurama snickered.

"Double crosser." Naruto grumbled while opening the door to their room, to which Sasuke smirked in response.

Sasuke sighed in discomfort as he sat cross-legged on his cot, his body was still hurting from last week's events.

"Hn, such an annoyance. If only I had your healing factor, then we could start preparing for those demons." Sasuke complained as he tried to stretch out his sore limbs.

"Ah, don't be like that. My coordination is still a bit off, so I'm in the same boat as you." Naruto responded.

Naruto's words did little to relieve the Uchiha, in fact it made him worry that much more. They couldn't afford to be taking it easy with the powerful forces that were out there.

"That isn't any better. We need to get to the next level. You heard the Kyuubi, even the weakest demon is at the level of a Jonin. Sitting here twiddling our thumbs is going to get us killed." Sasuke countered heatedly.

"Yeah… I guess you're right. But what can we do about it?" Naruto said, his expression morphing in contemplation.

" **Hmmm… I think I might have a solution."** Kurama responded after a moment of silence, an evil grin forming on his maw.

"You do? Well, what is it?" Sasuke asked with interest.

"No." Naruto stated bluntly before the tailed beast could respond.

Sasuke may not have noticed, but Naruto could tell in his sleep when the Kyuubi concocting a maniacal plan.

" **Oh come now, Naruto. I promise that it won't hurt a bit."** Kurama lied disarmingly, pasting a fake angelic smile on his face.

The blond jinchuriki gave the Kyuubi a skeptical, side-eyed look, wondering if the tailed beast actually thought that he was stupid enough to fall for his reassurances.

"Who do you think you are trying to fool? The devil was an angel once, so don't think that I'm going to fall for your ruse." Naruto countered.

"Shut up you dumbass. If you want to be a slacker, fine… but don't drag me down with you." Sasuke rebuked.

"Bastard… can't you see that I'm trying to save your ass. You have to take anything the Kyuubi says with a grain of salt. Taking anything that he offers without precaution is like walking into a wolves' den wearing a meat suit." Naruto growled, trying to make his friend see reason.

" **Come on brat, like I said before we're in this together. Harming you will harm my chances of getting out of here, so I promise that I'll try to play nice."** Kurama simpered mockingly.

Naruto snorted at the tailed beast's words, but stifled his complaints.

"Fine then, I'll play along. What's your big idea?" Naruto asked skeptically.

" **Ever since you ripped the seal and our chakras mixed to an even greater amount, I've noticed that I've gained a lot more ability in affecting the outside world. As you've seen, I can now telepathically speak to the Uchiha at any time, not just in Hell where my powers are amplified."** Kurama began.

Sasuke nodded at this point, gesturing for the Kyuubi to go on. Sasuke hadn't thought too much of it because the Kyuubi had done it before in Purgatory, but upon realizing that it was situational got the gears turning in his head.

" **I've also figured out that this phenomenon has allowed me to alter Naruto's mindscape to my whim. If the theory that I now have works, you'll have a method of training where you won't even have to move your bodies."** Kurama finished.

Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened in shock at the explanation, brainstorming the implications of this. If such a thing existed, it would be quite a helpful tool.

"How would that even work?" Naruto asked in contemplation.

" **Your seal functions on space-time manipulation. I'm not sure of the specifics, but fuinjutsu has in effect created a separate dimension within your mind where I can reside and you can interact from time to time. You can essentially do anything in here that you can do in the outside world. My plan is to tether the Uchiha's mind with yours by creating a link formed with my chakra, allowing him to access this place as well. That's not even the best part though, time moves much slower in the outside world than in here. You can get hours of training in the mindscape where only a couple of seconds would pass on the outside."** Kurama continued.

"Holy crap…" Sasuke muttered, to which Naruto could only nod.

" _Who knew cooperating with the Kyuubi would be this beneficial? I guess I can try to stop being so hostile to him, he deserves that much."_ Naruto thought.

Naruto was probably one of the purest people you could ever find, not one to be held up on grudges or negative emotions. That being said, Naruto was still human at the end of the day as shown with the massive amount of apprehension he possessed when dealing with the Kyuubi.

But, why shouldn't he? The Kyuubi after all was the root source of all the strife in Naruto's life. Even if the tailed beast wasn't intentional about it, it still took the normally uber-forgiving shinobi a little while to get over it.

"All right then, I guess you've proved your point. So how do we go about this?" Naruto asked with a grin, it seemed things were finally going there way.

" **I have a few methods, but let's try this first. Get comfortable because this might take a while. Now I want the both of you to form the Ram hand seal and focus your chakra into your heads, that'll make it easier for my chakra to latch between the both of you. Naruto, you are the focus so I need you to keep calm and still, any movements will screw this up so temper your skittishness. Sasuke, I need you to relax and open your mind, try not to jerk to any strange sensation you might feel because it'll be me trying to forge a link with you. The good thing though is that after we do this once, it will be much easier to repeat."** Kurama ordered.

Naruto and Sasuke followed the tailed beast's command by sitting cross-legged and forming the hand seal. The Kyuubi waited a couple minutes for the two boys to reach the equilibrium that he wanted, Naruto had trouble focusing his chakra thanks to his abhorrent control, something that will need to be corrected, and Sasuke needed a bit to still his thoughts.

Eventually though, the bedroom became still and quiet as the two shinobi meditated.

" **Good, we can now begin. Remember what I said Naruto, don't move a muscle."** Kurama reminded, before forming a nexus of chakra around Naruto's forehead.

The odd sensation tickled the jinchuriki, but he forced himself to sit still as the chakra continued to emerge until it was focused into a tiny ball of red energy.

" **Sasuke, you're next. Relax and expand your consciousness to the world."** Kurama continued, before the dot of red chakra extended as a beam to connect with Sasuke's forehead.

Sasuke could almost feel the intrusion on his thoughts, but like Naruto forced himself to relax and allow the process to continue. After a few more moments of silence, the connection finally reached its conclusion and the Kyuubi sighed in relief at the success.

" **Alright, I can't believe that worked. You two, you may open your eyes now."** Kurama said.

Naruto and Sasuke opened their eyes as one and their expressions morphed in shock, albeit for differing reasons.

" _What the hell? Last time I checked, this place was a freakin' sewer! How did it change so fast?"_ Naruto thought in amazement.

The scenery of the once murky, dank sewer had vanished entirely, now replaced with a sprawling field of grass that expanded endlessly into the horizon. Trees dotted the landscape sporadically before coalescing into a thick forest that occupied the western part of the mindscape.

Naruto and Sasuke's ears twitched at the sound of a flowing river running down from the north where a mountain range presided, before emptying out into a sizeable lake that took shape in the northeast. The sky was a serene blue that was populated with wispy clouds, and a radiant sun shined down brightly on them.

" **I have often dreamed of returning to the beauty of nature in my lower moments. But humanity always seems to have different ideas. At least this way I can experience it, real or not."** Kurama said in a rare moment of weakness.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the odd turn of behavior, while Naruto looked down in a little bit of shame. At the end of the day, the Kyuubi was a sentient being with its own desires and it too had suffered wrongs at the hands of society.

Another trait that they shared it seemed.

" **Well, enough of that. ALRIGHT MAGGOTS! FRONT AND CENTER!"** Kurama barked, his expression making a complete reversal.

The two shinobi jumped at the tone change and eyed the tailed beast warily. What the hell was the Kyuubi on about?

"Um… Kyuubi? What's this all about?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

" **I'm glad you asked, my idiot jinchuriki. From the kindness of my heart, I've decided to take it upon myself to whip you two imbeciles into respectable shinobi! I'M TAKING YOU TWO WHELPS TO BOOT CAMP!"** Kurama roared.

Naruto and Sasuke shared a nervous look with each other, gulping in apprehension.

"...I'm sorry, Naruto. You were right all along. Meat suit in a wolves' den indeed." Sasuke whispered.

"...Well, it's too late now Sasuke. I'll kick your ass in the afterlife." Naruto replied.

" **Awww… making a cute little death pact? WELL TOO BAD! Death's a luxury that you can't afford."** Kurama said.

" **Dumbass!"** Kurama yelled, rounding on Naruto.

The blond jinchuriki straightened warily at the Kyuubi's call, wondering what torture he was going to lay on him.

" **Luckily for you, since we reside in a mental representation of reality, we can't partake in physical methods of training. However, chakra is all spiritual which is more than enough for me to make your life a living hell. Your task will be to stop sucking so bad in chakra control. You were trash before and your increased reserves have made you even worse."** Kurama explained.

Naruto scowled at the mention of his worst shinobi discipline. Every teacher he ever had constantly complained of it: Iruka, Kakashi, Jiraiya, and now even the Kyuubi.

It wasn't his fault, it was hard trying to use something sparingly that he had an abundance of, it was like trying to fill a tiny cup with a bucket full of water.

Horrifically inaccurate and wasteful.

" **Turn that frown upside down, soldier. I don't need for you to be perfect, in fact for what I have planned out for you, your reserves will be a massive boon. Tailed beasts don't use chakra in a conventional manner and as someone who has chakra that rivals such, you'll follow suit."** Kurama explained.

"What do you have in mind?" Naruto asked, his expression brightening in interest.

" **That's for me to know and for you to find out."** Kurama answered, before scrunching his features in concentration.

A couple seconds later, a full grown tree erupted behind Naruto and Sasuke.

" **I recall there being three types of chakra control exercises that you humans like to use, the leaf rotation, tree walking, and water walking. Start from the beginning and I'll consider you finished when you can form a Rasengan with no shadow clones. Hop to it."** Kurama beckoned with a shooing gesture.

Naruto huffed at the dismissal, but walked over to the tree and punched it hard, causing dozens of leaves to fall to the ground. Naruto picked one up and placed it on his forehead, before sitting down in a meditating position.

" _Alright then, let's see how much work I have to do."_ Naruto thought while forming a Ram hand seal, before he slowly and carefully emitted a burst of chakra from his forehead that would levitate the leaf a couple of inches.

The burst of chakra proceeded to rocket the leaf several feet in the air, the force so great that it disintegrated near instantly.

" _...Fuck."_ Naruto thought deadpan, he had a lot of work to do.

" **Emo brat, you're up."** Kurama stated.

Sasuke scowled at the tailed beast, why did everyone call him that? Just because he wasn't always excessively happy, wore dark colors, and talked little made him an emo?

Fuck stereotypes.

" **Alright, listen up. You don't like me and I sure as HELL don't like you, but we're stuck in this together because the dumbass wants you around. And as much as it pains me to say, you're the more disciplined shinobi compared to my jinchuriki, so I don't really have any problems for you to fix. Allowing me to actually teach you shit."** Kurama growled, to which Sasuke smirked at.

"And what would that be?" Sasuke asked in intrigue.

" **Imma teach you how to REALLY use fire. Each tailed beast possesses a specialty in the elements and mine so happens to be Katon (Fire Release) and Futon (Wind Release). You will learn how to manipulate flames without hand seals, through pure nature manipulation, increasing their versatility and power. And thanks to your knowledge of how this process should work because of the Chidori, it'll be that much easier for you."** Kurama said, before plucking a leaf from the ground and holding it in front of Sasuke.

Sasuke rose an eyebrow in confusion until he saw steam begin to emit from the leaf. Upon realization of what the Kyuubi was trying to do, Sasuke activated his newly matured Sharingan and closely watched the tailed beast's manipulation of chakra, committing the scene to memory.

" **Good, it seems that you have a brain. Practice this to improve your control of Katon and when I see fit we'll move on to another exercise."** Kurama ordered, before leaving Sasuke to his own devices.

The Kyuubi rested on his paws and tried to find a comfortable position. If the constant failures of Naruto to stop destroying his leaf and the chakra intensive nature of the exercise he gave Sasuke to do were any indication, he was in for the long haul.

* * *

" **Hey! Who said you could sleep?! Get your ass up, that leaf ain't gonna rotate itself!"** Kurama roared in full on drill sergeant mode.

Naruto slowly dragged himself up from the ground, once again cursing his ridiculous chakra reserves. While Sasuke was allowed to rest every once in a while due to the risk of chakra exhaustion, his Kage level reserves as well as his ridiculous chakra recovery rate thanks to the increased flow of chakra that came from the Kyuubi meant that he couldn't run out of chakra fast enough while doing an exercise such as rotating a leaf.

Despite possessing such extreme stamina however, Naruto was still human which meant that he still needed to sleep. But the Kyuubi wouldn't be satisfied until he managed to steadily hold the leaf above his head while rotating it, something he had yet to accomplish.

" _Come on you stupid leaf, stop ripping apart already!"_ Naruto irritably thought, while attaching yet another leaf to his forehead.

The jinchuriki had actually made quite a bit of progress, Naruto had stopped destroying the leaf every time he applied chakra to it and was able to levitate it, albeit a little wobbly, two inches above his forehead.

Unfortunately, every time he tried to rotate the leaf, his chakra control flopped and the leaf was ripped apart once again. Thousands of shredded leaves surrounded the jinchuriki as Naruto continued to practice.

"C-Come on dobe... FINISH ALREADY!" Sasuke shouted, panting on the ground like a dog.

Sasuke's task had seemed to be quite simple, he was to master his control of **Katon** chakra to the point where he could summon it at will without hand seals. As practice, the Uchiha had to heat up the center of a leaf until it was a smoldering ember and then try to keep the flame from expanding and consuming the whole thing.

In reality however, it was quite a difficult process. Sasuke had to alter the amount of chakra he applied constantly in order to fluctuate the temperature so the flame wouldn't go out or spiral out of control. The Uchiha was truly lucky to possess the Sharingan as it allowed him to perfectly memorize the flow of chakra necessary to perform the exercise without need for trial and error.

Unfortunately, despite all of the benefits that the Kekkei Genkai gave Sasuke, it still wasn't a substitute for the massive chakra reserves required to perform the exercise for long periods of time. Sasuke didn't even have small reserves, they were actually quite large for even an experienced Chunin. Not to talk of the levels he reached under the influence of the Curse Mark.

But when compared to that of a jinchuriki and a tailed beast, it practically amounted to nothing. The Uchiha had driven himself to near chakra exhaustion four times already and the Kyuubi only gave him about an hour to rest before he had to start all over again.

Nevertheless, Sasuke had also made large strides in improvement. Whereas the first time he tried, Sasuke could only perform the exercise for about thirty minutes. But now Sasuke could now hold up for several hours at a time.

Despite the pain, the Uchiha knew that his chakra reserves had increased and his proficiency over **Katon** became more thorough with every attempt. Once he put his newfound nature transformation skills to use, his flames would become hotter and more explosive, not to mention less chakra intensive.

Sasuke only wished that he had mastered this exercise when he was a child before trying to learn the **Katon: Gokakyu** (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique) to impress his father. It would have made his attempts a hell of a lot easier.

The Kyuubi's training exercise was actually the seldom used method of the **Katon** nature transformation where the user was to knead normal chakra together to cause friction that would eventually cause a spark of fire.

While mastery allowed for the creation of stronger flames, Sasuke was experiencing first hand how was difficult and chakra intensive the training for it was. Still, while it would have sucked in the beginning, it would have benefited him in the long run.

Most Uchiha opted to just force their chakra to mimic the properties of fire with hand seals, but while "easier" in practice a lot of power was lost this way. Probably why he had a lot of trouble as child to even form flames because of his weak chakra.

" _I guess this is what the Kyuubi meant by really using fire. Too bad he's such an ass about it."_ Sasuke thought in exhaustion, forcing himself into a sitting position.

Whatever, he would suffer now and get stronger. But one day… one day… he would have his revenge.

The poor fool.

"I think I've got it!" Naruto yelled, bringing Sasuke out of his revenge filled musings. The Kyuubi's ears pricked at the exclamation and a devilish smile came to his face at the idea that popped into his head.

"Prepare to eat your words Kyuubi! Once I'm done, I'm out of here." Naruto demanded.

" **That's IF you succeed. But sure, I'll let you two go for the day if you manage it."** Kurama acquiesced, to Naruto's delight.

"Thank Kami." Naruto praised, before scrunching his features in concentration as he poured all his focus into moving the leaf.

The leaf that was situated on Naruto's forehead rose steadily, levitating in a stable manner three inches in the air. After a few seconds of this, the leaf slowly began to rotate.

Well… it would've if the Kyuubi wasn't an asshole. But he is, so life couldn't be that easy.

A suspicious wind carried itself over to Naruto and blew the leaf right out of the air, making it land on the ground with a soft plop.

Naruto and Sasuke's hearts followed suit.

"...B-But… h-how...w-why?" Naruto stammered in horror, while Sasuke laid back down on the ground in defeat and groaned pitifully.

" **Oh no… that's too bad. Well, tough luck. You fail. Looks like it's more training for you two. Get a move on."** Kurama said, his expression impassive.

Unfortunately for the Kyuubi, the sleep deprivation finally caught up with the two boys. Naruto and Sasuke's eyes rolled to the back of their heads before they fell unconscious, dead as a doormat.

" **Oi! You ain't finished! GET YOUR ASSES UP!"** Kurama bellowed, the force of his roar causing tempest level winds to wash over the two shinobi.

Didn't do a damn thing.

" **Hmph, lazy brats. Fine, take a breather. But I'm going to work you two idiots twice as hard when you wake up."** Kurama said ominously.

* * *

It had been a long, agonizing two weeks. A lot of pain, sweat, and tears flowed as the Kyuubi continued to up the ante on Naruto and Sasuke.

But it was finally paying off.

" **Good. Very good. It seems that you aren't useless after all my idiot jinchuriki."** Kurama praised in a backhanded manner.

Naruto snarled angrily at the Kyuubi's taunting but wisely stayed quiet, lest he lose his concentration. The jinchuriki had finally climbed the hurdle that had dogged him his entire shinobi career.

Two weeks straight of nothing but chakra control training had worked miracles for Naruto. Whereas before he had struggled to rotate even a single leaf, Naruto now levitated ten leaves on top of each other, each one rotating at a different speed and different direction than the one below it.

Such a turn around would have been inconceivable to even Jiraiya, but there was no motivation like the threat of being horrifically mauled by a horde of bloodthirsty demons that got one going.

" _I'll get even with you one day, Kyuubi. I SWEAR IT!_ " Naruto thought.

The tailed beast was truly a slave driver, if you fell asleep or failed to perform to his expectations then the Kyuubi would make your life living hell.

Anything from dangling you off a mountain, dunking you into the lake until you passed out, or imagining medieval siege weapons and chucking any sort of projectile he could think of at you.

" _Why does he even think of shit like that? Such a fucked up mind."_ Naruto thought in annoyance, before the Kyuubi bonked him on the head with one of his tails.

"Hey, what was that for?!" Naruto cried in pain.

" **Cuz you were talking shit."** Kurama said, as if that explained everything.

"No, I wasn't! I didn't even say a word!" Naruto yelled before he was bitch-slapped by another tail.

" **You're a goddamn liar, you know that. I am literally the manifestation of hatred and rage. Because of which, I can sense any and all negative emotions. But come on, if you think you can take me then bring it, let me open up a can of whoopass on ya scrawny behind."** Kurama threatened.

Naruto grumbled in defiance, but the Kyuubi kept his pimp hand strong with another tail slap.

" **What was that?!"** Kurama egged on, putting his paw against his ear.

"I'm sorry, Kyuubi-sama! I'm sorry!" Naruto whined, rubbing his stinging cheek.

" **That's what I thought."** Kurama confirmed in satisfaction, before he was brought out of his musings by a round stifled laughing.

" **I wouldn't be laughing if I were you Princess. But if you want a turn, I'll oblige you."** Kurama said to Sasuke, who quickly returned back to his practicing.

Sasuke had made just as much stunning progress as Naruto had made, truly living up to his hype as a prodigy. His proficiency of **Katon** was quickly rising to the level of a master.

Vibrant, orange flames enveloped Sasuke's limbs as he flew through a series of rapid taijutsu katas. The Uchiha was now able to summon fire at a whim and actively used it to enhance his strikes.

After a string of airborne spinning kicks, Sasuke shifted into long range mode. He rapidly punched outward and fireballs the size of a human head fired forward at high speeds.

While Sasuke was now pretty skilled at manipulating flames for close combat, he still had a lot of work to do to improve his ranged attacks. Still, the number of hand seals that Sasuke had to form for his **Katon** techniques had decreased dramatically, and the Uchiha was resolved to make that number fall to zero.

" **Katon: Gokakyu."** (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique) Sasuke bellowed, forming only three hand seals before releasing a giant missile of flame, much more powerful than before.

The **Katon** technique engulfed a row of several trees, utterly wiping all of them out of existence. A proud Sasuke smirked at his handiwork.

" **Not bad Uchiha, not bad. Alright Naruto, you're up, Show me what you've got."** Kurama ordered.

Naruto halted the flow of his chakra and allowed the leaves he was levitating to fall to the ground. Once he got up, the jinchuriki stretched out a bit to work out the kinks from sitting motionlessly.

" _Ok, here goes nothing. Let's see how much I've improved."_ Naruto thought, before clenching his fist and summoning his chakra.

Lengthy wisps of powerful blue chakra swirled around in a symphony, convening together into a singular point at the center of Naruto's palm. The torrent of energy whirled like a tempest and condensed within itself, forming a perfect sphere.

In only three seconds, Naruto's new and improved Rasengan hummed into existence, its diameter swelling to the length between the top of his pointer finger and wrist.

"Wow… it's even bigger than before." Naruto said admiringly.

" **You don't remember? You achieved this once already, back when you saved the Uchiha from that Balrog."** Kurama remarked.

Naruto paused in recollection as he replayed the memory in his mind. Did he really? Maybe he didn't notice because he was so focused on attacking, he did fall unconscious right after as well.

" _ **Hmm… even while distracted, Naruto's control over the Rasengan is steady. That's very promising. But now to test its power."**_ Kurama contemplated.

A large boulder twice the size of Naruto in all dimensions sprouted into existence in front of the jinchuriki.

" **Alright brat, enough gawking around. Time for a test run."** Kurama said in anticipation.

Naruto sported a savage grin at the request, before he phased out of sight from sheer speed. The jinchuriki charged full throttle at the boulder, massive amounts of dirt and gravel kicking up behind him from the force of his dash.

" **RASENGAN!"** Naruto roared as he thrust his arm forward.

The initial impact shattered the face of the boulder, a web of cracks forming all across. The resulting explosion however, engulfed the entire structure in a whirling typhoon of power that traveled for hundreds of feet before finally dying out.

When the smoke cleared, only a crater remained.

Sasuke whistled in appreciation of the Rasengan's newfound destructive power, the Uchiha felt sorry for the poor bastard who would be on the receiving end of that.

" _It seems that Naruto has been working hard as well. I'm gonna have to step up my game if I wanna keep up with him. Hmm… Kakashi's_ _ **Raikiri**_ _seems like a good place to start."_ Sasuke thought.

The **Raikiri** (Lightning Cutter) was more or less a beefed up version of the **Chidori.** The two **Raiton** (Lightning Release) techniques were formed from the same hand seals, but the **Raikiri** focused a much greater amount of chakra into a smaller area, increasing its penetrating power by several magnitudes.

Novice level shape manipulation working in tandem with high level nature transformation turned the already lethal A-Rank Chidori into an even deadlier S-Rank technique.

" **Excellent. You two have finally proven to me that you won't run into trouble and get yourselves killed. Congratulations, you've completed BASIC boot camp. Go back to the real world and take a breather, but stay vigilant. The horrors have only begun... MUAHAHAHAHA!"** Kurama laughed maniacally.

You couldn't have told Naruto and Sasuke to do anything else faster, in the blink of an eye their appearances shimmered and they exited out of the mindscape in no time flat.

* * *

When Naruto and Sasuke's eyes popped back open in their real bodies, the two shinobi collapsed on their backs in sheer relief and exhaustion. The two teens' heads throbbed like no tomorrow, all of the memories exploding within their subconscious and netting them massive headaches.

"Thank goodness… I thought I'd never see the day." Naruto said gratefully.

"You can say that again. The Kyuubi is one depraved son of a bitch." Sasuke said in agreement.

" **...You know I can drag your asses back in here if I want to, right?"** Kurama said deadpan, a comical vein popping out of his temple.

The two shinobi went silent.

" **Very good, glad we're on the same page. Try out your new abilities in your real bodies, I want to make sure that all of this wasn't for nothing."** Kurama said.

"WHAT?!" Naruto and Sasuke yelled, springing back up to life in an instant.

" **RELAX DAMMIT! It's just a hunch. Besides, if that's the case then it's no biggie because you wouldn't have lost that much time anyway."** Kurama explained.

"What do you mean by that?! We spent two weeks in that hell!" Naruto exclaimed vehemently.

" **Have you forgotten one of the first things I told you upon entering the mindscape? Let me dumb it down for you. TIME MOVES MUCH, MUCH SLOWER OUT THERE THAN IN HERE! Check the clock on the bedside table if you don't believe me."** Kurama said.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes in confusion, but turned to the object of discussion for confirmation. It couldn't be that much of a difference. Maybe 2-3 times faster at best.

The Uchiha proceeded to eat his words, throw them out, and then eat them again when he saw the clock. They had re-entered the bedroom after breakfast at around 9:30 AM.

It was 10:30… in the morning. Two WHOLE weeks of mindscape training done within the span of one hour in the outside world.

What… the actual fuck?

"H-Holy crap…" Naruto muttered, coming to the same realization that Sasuke did.

This wasn't 2 or 3 times faster, it was two whole degrees of magnitude greater.

" **Yup, amazing right? To be exact, time passes in the mindscape about 168 times faster than on the outside. To put it into layman's terms, one day out there equals more or less a year of training in here. So like I said, no biggie."** Kurama said with a shit-eating grin.

"Yeah… no biggie alright." Sasuke said in wonder.

" **So now that you've been put in your proper place, how about getting around to my request?"** Kurama asked.

This time, Naruto and Sasuke complied without complaint. And sure enough, Naruto was able to form his improved Rasengan with one hand and Sasuke was able to manifest flames around his fists like before. It was almost too good to be true.

" **Unfortunately, this is still mind training. So it's a no go on physical conditioning while we're in the mindscape. Once the Uchiha's body is healed, you two will have to train in a normal fashion for a while."** Kurama said, putting a dampener on their moods.

"It doesn't matter. The amount of mindscape training we'll have by the time I'm healed will net us massive amounts of experience. It's still a win win in my book." Sasuke said, regaining his smirk.

"Yeah, just watch Kyuubi. We'll become the best in no time." Naruto said with his usual infectious grin.

Kurama eyed the two in confusion, wondering where all the optimism came from in their dire situation, before he snorted in amusement.

" **Hmph. You little shits are still mediocre, kami knows you'd be dead in a ditch somewhere without me. But I'll make you two great, it's the only way we'll get out of this mess. Anyway rest up for the remainder of the day, your minds will need time to adjust and recover, such a massive influx of memories isn't healthy if abused. I need some me time anyway."** Kurama replied, before cutting off the telepathy link and falling silent.

"Thank Kami for that. So Sasuke, have any other ideas that you want to work on?" Naruto asked, trying to foster conversation.

"I do actually. Your new and improved Rasengan got me thinking if I could do the same with my Chidori. Then I remembered Kakashi's version and decided that that would be a good next course of action. After that, I'll probably try to develop my **Raiton** the same way I did my **Katon** once I've mastered it. What about you?" Sasuke answered.

"I… I honestly don't know. Fixing my chakra control and mastering the Rasengan were two of my most pressing issues beforehand. But now that I've got those out of the way, I'm blanking out." Naruto replied.

"Hmm… I see where you're coming from. I have a couple of things to recommend though. You can try to learn a new element, the Kyuubi possesses mastery of **Futon** (Wind Release) as well as **Katon** , so maybe you can convince him to teach you..." Sasuke began.

" _Yeah… not looking forward to that at all."_ Naruto thought apprehensively.

"...Or, you can try and further develop your Rasengan. Make up variants for a wide range of scenarios. I remember back in our fight, you focused a massive amount of chakra to your fist to increase your punching power, see if you can do something like that with your Rasengan." Sasuke finished.

"Those are some pretty good ideas, why didn't I think of that?" Naruto wondered aloud.

"Because you're an idiot." Sasuke said with a smirk, causing a vein to pop out of Naruto's temple.

"Bastard." Naruto growled threateningly.

"Dumbass." Sasuke countered mockingly.

The two teammates butted heads… and then proceeded to whimper in pain as that action had only aggravated their migraines.

"What's all the ruckus about? Oh... you two are finally awake huh? I had come earlier but you two seemed to be praying or something. Odd little whippersnappers." Toshiki asked, opening the bedroom door with Yukari in tow to see what was going on.

"Now Toshiki-kun, don't poke fun. Whatever they do to occupy their time is their own business as long as it doesn't harm others." Yukari reprimanded softly.

"Yes dear." Toshiki mumbled.

"Whipped." Naruto and Sasuke said deadpan, their manly respect for the old farmer dropping by the second.

"Why you little brats, you should respect your elders you know." Toshiki growled in indignation.

Naruto and Sasuke were unmoved.

"Fine, be that way. Anyway, I had come to ask if either of you were willing to help me with some handy work around here. Only fair since we're feeding ya." Toshiki grumbled, cursing snot-nosed brats across the world.

"Toshiki-kun, where's your sense of hospitality? It's impolite to ask that of guests and moreso look at them, they're still injured." Yukari asked, pulling her husband's ear.

"They didn't look injured to me at breakfast. The blond one in particular kept stealing my food." Toshiki frantically explained in pain, pointing an accusatory finger at Naruto who stuck his tongue out in response.

"It's alright Yukari-baachan. I heal fast, so it's no problem at all. In fact Toshiki-ojisan, I'll raise you." Naruto said in acquiescence, before standing up and forming his signature hand seal.

Ten Naruto shadow clones burst into existence, holding out peace signs to the stunned farmer couple.

"My word… this is amazing. They're so life-like." Yukari said in wonder, pinching one of the Naruto clones cheeks to its irritation.

"Yup, each one possesses the same knowledge and abilities as the original, making them great for all sorts of tasks, including manual labor." Naruto preened, leaning against one of his clones in satisfaction.

"Incredible. So this is what Mages are capable of, I could only guess before." Toshiki said in amazement.

"Mages? What do you mean by that?" Sasuke said in interest, standing up to join the conversation.

"You mean you don't know what you are? Mages are specially gifted people who can manipulate reality by utilizing some atmospheric energy or something." Toshiki explained.

Naruto and Sasuke shared a look, this was news to them.

"Um, I don't think that applies to us. From where Sasuke and I come from, the warriors are called shinobi and we do the things that we do by manipulating the energy that comes from within us called chakra." Naruto said, causing Yukari and Toshiki's eyes to widen.

"Really? What else can you two do?" Toshiki asked, his tone a mixture of intrigue and hope.

Naruto turned to look at Sasuke for confirmation and the Uchiha shrugged his shoulders, telling the old couple about their powers shouldn't be a problem.

"Lots of things actually. Observe." Naruto said with an excited grin, before he formed a hand seal.

With a poof of smoke, Naruto performed the **Kawarimi** (Substitution Technique) with the couple's dresser, switching places with the object in an instant.

"Depending on our skill level, experience, and stamina, shinobi can switch places with just about any object from any distance, making us masters in evasion." Naruto stated with a smirk while leaning against the wall, to the couple's amazement.

"We can also travel long distances in the blink of an eye, untraceable to all but the fastest of fighters." Sasuke said from the hallway, using the **Shunshin** (Body Flicker Technique) to appear behind Yukari and Toshiki.

The pair of farmers jumped at Sasuke's voice, how in the hell did he do that? What madness was going on?

"Shinobi can also transform to take on the outward appearance of anyone we've ever met." Naruto said, performing the **Henge** (Transformation Technique) to accurately take on the appearance of Toshiki.

"What in the world?" Toshiki asked in confusion, looking Naruto over but finding no discrepancy whatsoever, the blond could perfectly pass off as him.

"But that's not all. The more skilled shinobi can manipulate the elements, some elites being able to wield multiple types at the same time." Sasuke said, conjuring an orb of flame in his right hand and transmuting the Chidori into his left, each radiating with skillfully contained power.

"Or even manipulate pure energy itself." Naruto finished, brandishing his improved Rasengan once more, the powerful wisps of chakra that emanated from the jutsu emitting winds which ruffled Yukari and Toshiki's clothes.

After a few moments, Naruto and Sasuke ended their displays of power, but not before utterly shattering the farmer couple's perception of them.

" _Yup… killers for hire indeed."_ Toshiki thought, feeling vindicated but highly worried at the same time.

But maybe… just maybe… this could be the answer to the town's prayers.

"Can you excuse us for a moment?" Toshiki asked nervously, before dragging Yukari out into the hallway with him and shutting the door, leaving a surprised Naruto and Sasuke.

"...Do you think we went overboard? They look a little pale." Sasuke asked in concern.

"Hmm… naw. Showing off is too much fun." Naruto answered with a grin.

* * *

"I can't believe that this moment is finally happening. 50 years of marriage and never being right once, until now. I have really… REALLY wanted to say this… I told you so." Toshiki said with a shit-eating grin.

"I hope that was worth it because you're also the one who's sleeping on the couch tonight." Yukari said, scowling at her husband.

" _...Dammit. Can I win just one time?"_ Toshiki thought unhappily.

"Whatever. So what are we going to do about the brats?" Toshiki asked, trying to mask his misfortune.

"What do you mean? We're going to keep taking care of them like we have been. No change necessary." Yukari stated.

"Are you insane?! Those two are literally walking time bombs. If we do anything to upset them, we could find ourselves with slit necks in the middle of the night!" Toshiki exclaimed, trying to make his wife see reason.

"And do tell me, how is kicking them out conducive to keeping them happy?" Yukari asked deadpan.

Toshiki paused at the counterclaim, before sighing in resignation. Dammit, his wife was way too smart for him sometimes.

But he still loved her so.

"Fine, but if we're going to keep them here, let's put them up to some good. You saw how powerful those two are, they could rid the town of those hoodlums for good!" Toshiki said.

"N-O! Despite what you think of them, those boys are still children. Have you seen the looks in their eyes? Full of pain, hatred, and longing. They deserve a nurturing environment, not to be used as living weapons." Yukari said vehemently.

"But this is the best chance we have! It's been several years since we've sent a request to the Magic Council for help, yet we've gotten no response. I know it's risky, but those boys could be what we've been waiting for." Toshiki argued.

"It's still not right. Those dark mages aren't just any sort of punk group. Twilight Marauder… they're savages… murderers. Their Guild Master in particular has slaughtered hundreds. And yet, you want to send two boys to fight them?! A group of killers that are categorized by the Magic Council as an A-Class threat?! You should be ashamed of yourself. I refuse, end of discussion." Yukari said, her tone of voice final.

And with that, Yukari turned on her heel and walked away.

Toshiki sighed at his wife's obstinance, she was a stubborn little firebrand alright. He understood her worries, he truly did, his wife's desire for children of her own would make her highly possessive of anyone who came under her ward.

Now that she had found two, like a mother hen she refused to let go.

But Yukari hadn't witnessed the things that Toshiki did whenever he traveled into town to sell their products at the market, he had refused to share the grim reality. How those hoodlums ran amok, smashing up things and people and strutting around like they owned the place, it was sickening.

Then there were the rumors… about how people were disappearing, young women in particular. However, no one had seen the actions take place, the townspeople had pointed fingers at the dark mages but what could they do about it?

" _I know Yukari-chan will hate me for this, but I have no choice. I'll take the boys to town with me next month and show them the desolation. Hopefully they'll have enough of a bleeding heart that they're willing to help."_ Toshiki thought, trying to convince himself that this was the right course of action to take.

He would do what was necessary to save the town.

* * *

"Did you catch all that?" Naruto asked silently.

"Yeah, every word." Sasuke whispered back.

The boys looked calm on the outside, but inwardly they were having trouble suppressing their rage. Even in a different universe, there was still scum trapezing the land. Preying on the weak and enriching themselves on the tears of others.

" _Just like Gato and his cronies… just like those villagers."_ Naruto thought with menace.

" _Just like Itachi."_ Sasuke thought, darkness brimming in his thoughts.

Unfortunately for Yukari, Naruto and Sasuke were shinobi and that meant that they possessed an enhanced sense of hearing developed from childhood before even enhancing the sense with chakra. The two teenagers had heard every word, every detail in their conversation and had already started planning.

It was time to make a difference.

"We'll have to feign ignorance. We can't risk Yukari getting involved in some deluded notion of trying to protect us, she could get hurt." Sasuke said.

"Yeah, we'll just have to wait for the right moment. Maybe sneak behind either one of them when they're going to town and then find and eradicate those scumbags." Naruto said in agreement.

"But we'll have to get stronger… much, much stronger and way faster than we planned. This is a threat that can pop up at any moment, not something that we're going to look for on our own terms. If this place possesses "Mages" whose caliber can rival that of a shinobi, then an A-Class threat will be trouble." Sasuke said, to which Naruto nodded.

If the power structure of this universe resembled anything like that of the Narutoverse, an A-Class threat was synonymous with an A-Rank threat. And an A-Rank threat meant a skilled Jonin, a good example being Zabuza from the Land of Waves mission.

Despite Naruto and Sasuke's rapid improvement from two weeks of mindscape training, they still weren't ready for that.

That would have to change.

"Um… hey little fellas. Sorry about earlier, I had something urgent that I needed to share with my wife. Nothing to worry about. So um… Naruto… are those clones still available?" Toshiki asked, opening the door.

"Oh yeah, no problem at all. Keep them for as long as you want, once you're done they'll dispel on their own. Be careful though, while helpful my clones are kind of fragile. A sharp blow will dispel them." Naruto explained before forming his signature hand seal and recreating the ten shadow clones.

"You are all to follow Toshiki-ojisan's orders to the letter. Understood?!" Naruto barked.

The ten shadow clones all saluted to the original before filing out of the room in a march.

"Heheheh… some loyalty you got there brat. Thanks again." Toshiki said, before heading after the troop of Narutos.

"Well that's that I guess. What do you want to do now?" Naruto asked.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors?" Sasuke offered hesitantly, but Naruto nodded excitedly.

And so, the afternoon came. After an intriguing, but unsettling conversation, the farm had returned to a quiet tranquility. The Kyuubi was taking a well-deserved nap, Yukari was reading a book in the living room, Naruto and Sasuke were going back and forth in a heated match of Rock, Paper, Scissors, and Toshiki and his troop of Narutos were going about the barn and making urgent repairs.

All was well…

"OW!" Naruto yelled unexpectedly, alarming Sasuke.

"What? What's the matter?!" Sasuke asked in confusion.

"I smashed my finger with a hammer! Right in the nail too!" Naruto complained, shaking his hand in pain.

"The fuck? How is that even possible? We're playing a goddamn kiddie game!" Sasuke said incredulously, wondering where this random episode came from.

"I swear it happened! I was helping Toshiki-ojisan fix the barn by boarding up a hole in the wall and then my shadow clone dispelled when it hit its ha-" Naruto began, before pausing in shock.

How... how in the hell did he know that?

" _Wait a second. My shadow clone is outside and I'm in here, yet when it dispelled I felt the same thing it did."_ Naruto though in contemplation, before his eyes widened in realization.

When he dispelled a shadow clone… he gained its memories. Whatever a shadow clone experienced, he experienced which meant that whatever a shadow clone learned, he learned as well.

" _But if that's the case… then why haven't I ever noticed this before."_ Naruto continued, before he put two and two together.

Naruto mainly used his shadow clones for battle and the battlefield was too chaotic to acknowledge and dwell on memories. Whatever Naruto received from his clones, his mind rationalized it as something he had personally experienced as to not distract him in combat.

But if this was true, what about all of the missed training opportunities? He could have learned so much more from Jiraiya…

Hold up a second… why didn't Jiraiya tell him about this? Hell… why didn't Kakashi say anything?!

Wait… wait, screw that. If he had known this, he could have used shadow clones to speed up his chakra control training inside the mindscape. He had spent two weeks at the mercy of that maniac for NO REASON!

Sasuke blinked several times in confusion as he watched Naruto repeatedly bang his head against the wall, muttering, "Stupid… Stupid… Stupid…" over and over again.

* * *

" **Hmm… interesting. I didn't realize that shadow clones could be so useful. But of course, only a** **dumbass like yourself could possibly not notice such a thing for so long."** Kurama said, shaking his head in resignation.

Naruto didn't even have it within him to argue, crocodile tears flowed down his face as he relived the horrors that the Kyuubi had put him through with the knowledge that he could have avoided it. But no more, Naruto promised to himself that he wouldn't be so dense anymore.

Sasuke chuckled at Naruto's misfortune, it was actually kinda funny. Even with all the disadvantages Naruto had faced when going up against people who wielded Kekkei Genkais or secret clan techniques, he possessed a skill that had the potential to surpass them.

And yet, Naruto couldn't even take two seconds to realize it himself until it was too late.

" **Alright, enough of the tears brat. Time's a wastin' and I plan to abuse the shit out of your ability. If one clone working in tandem with you can double your net experience gain, what about 100 clones, or even 1000?"** Kurama pondered, twirling his inexistent goatee.

Naruto blanched at the suggestion, normal mindscape training alone was a killer on his brain, adding the memories of 1000 dispelling clones on top of that would be torture.

"I don't think that's a smart idea. What happens if I can't handle it? It could kill me." Naruto said, gulping in fear at the prospect of becoming a vegetable.

" **Aww… little Naruto is scared? WELL TOO BAD! You two idiots got me into this mess and now you're going to get me out, through any means necessary. Squash that nervousness and overcome your limits. What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger. Now get to it!"** Kurama said with a maniacal smile, gesturing for his charge to get a move on.

" _I hate my life."_ Naruto whimpered, but he obeyed and poured in a massive amount of chakra into his signature technique.

One thousand poofs of smoke appeared across the field that the three were in, filling the mindscape with the cacophony of a horde of Narutos.

"Oh god, they're everywhere. It's the apocalypse." Sasuke said in horror, his eyes swiveling all over the place.

"SHUT UP BASTARD! Your emo ass ain't so good looking either!" Naruto growled.

The two shinobi butted heads once more, before the Kyuubi used his tails to pry the two off of each other.

" **Will you two imbeciles quit fucking around?! Don't make me bring back the trebuchet."** Kurama threatened, to Naruto and Sasuke's horror.

"We apologize Kyuubi-sama!" Naruto and Sasuke simpered, arms wrapped each other's shoulders to feign comradery.

" **Much better. Princess, keep improving upon your Katon skills. You've gotten better but you still have a long way to go. Be creative and impress me."** Kurama ordered.

Sasuke saluted and then got the hell out of dodge, sprinting to the lake so he could train his fire while working on chakra control.

" **And as for you, your clones will allow me to give you a TON of fun things to work on. Isn't that great?!"** Kurama said, rounding on Naruto.

"Great…" Naruto said, laying the unenthusiasm on thick.

" **Cheeky brat. Alright, I want you to have 300 clones working on chakra control. You've improved a lot, but you're still not on the Uchiha's level. Split them up into three groups and have each group practice one of the three exercises. Next, have another 200 clones work on improving the Rasengan. Tell them to go wild and try anything that seems like it could work, you need to diversify your skillset. Then, have the remaining 500 and yourself join me for some elemental training. It's time I teach you how to utilize Futon (Wind Release)."** Kurama explained.

" _... I fucking hate you Sasuke…"_ Naruto balked, wondering how the Uchiha had predicted the Kyuubi's plans from the onset.

And so, the time began to fly. One week soon passed on the outside world, but for Naruto and Sasuke that was equivalent to months of mindscape training. The boys had to take it slow in the beginning, only training for one hour on the outside world until their minds adjusted in being able to absorb so much information at once.

But soon, one hour became two hours and more, until the two shinobi had racked up 24 hours within the mindscape.

24 hours… which converted into approximately one year of nonstop training.

Naruto had it even worse than Sasuke, he was doing all of this in tandem with absorbing the memories of 1000 clones. The jinchuriki was racking up years upon years of experience and while it had been painful for quite a while, the benefits were manifesting at a rapid rate.

Naruto's repertoire of techniques was swelling at an incredible rate thanks to the innovations being made by his shadow clones. The Rasengan was truly the greatest building block that a shinobi could ever wield.

The Rasengan could be broken down into three simple steps: Rotation, Power, and Containment. To create the basic Rasengan, one had to perform these three steps in perfect equilibrium with each other. But what if one changed the ratio of these steps, giving more focus to one step over another?

You gained variation.

For example, what if Naruto focused most of the chakra he poured into the technique on Power and Containment, with just a tiny bit of rotation around his fist? Well, you've forged another path in performing the Strength Enhancement technique, the ability that made Tsunade so fearsome on the battlefield.

But hold on keep going… what if you performed this technique with a kick? The human leg is on average three to four times more powerful than the human arm. While slower and harder to control, when punches fail to break through defenses, kicks can succeed.

Not done yet though… add **Futon** (Wind Release) to the mix.

Whereas before you only had blunt damage, you can now add piercing power to the mix as well as increase the explosive force and speed.

" **Futon: Rasenken."** (Wind Release: Spiralling Fist) Naruto said, focusing powerful wind chakra around his forearm and manipulating it to twirl and coil around the appendage like a protective armor.

The blond jinchuriki cocked his fist back and then smashed it into the ground. Pillars of wind chakra erupted from the gravel and illuminated the field before detonating in a giant explosion which kicked up dust and hid the area from view.

When the smoke cleared, Naruto was standing inside of a deep crater, several yards deep and one hundred feet wide. Cracks however, continued to expand from the edges of the crevice, causing the ground to crumble and shatter while knocking down trees and the like.

The jinchuriki wasn't finished however for he released a pulse of wind chakra from his soles which rocketed him in the air. Once high enough, Naruto focused some more wind chakra into his right fist, but this time isolating around the appendage in the shape of a sphere.

" **Futon: Rasendan."** (Wind Release: Spiralling Bullet) Naruto chanted, before extending his right arm outward and firing the wind rasengan at the speed of sound like a gun.

The projectile tore through the sky at a breakneck pace and impacted the first of a row of trees, drilling through each and every one of the tree trunks before colliding with the ground and exploding with its loss of cohesion.

Naruto pressed on however, forming two more **Futon: Rasendan** around his fists and then launching a plethora of them, bombarding the ground like an air raid. Dust kicked up and debris flew through the air as the bullets screamed down from the heavens with the fury of a Rasengan.

Eventually, Naruto landed back on the ground, surveying the damage he had wrought with a satisfied expression. But he had one more technique to practice.

The jinchuriki shifted into a horse stance and slowly began to suck in a massive amount of air, wisps of chakra and wind funneling into his mouth. After a few seconds, Naruto could inhale no longer and his cheeks bulged in preparation.

" **Futon: Rasen Gekido!"** (Wind Release: Spiralling Wrath) Naruto roared, a maelstrom of wind chakra erupting from his mouth and barreling forwards as a giant wave.

Anything that had found itself in the path of the roar was obliterated, the force of destruction uncaring of its victims. When the attack finally died down, only a path of destruction that traced the ground remained.

"Oh yeah! Who's the greatest? That's right, Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto shouted to the heavens, marveling at the progress he had made.

It had only been two weeks since he and Sasuke had torn through dimensions and now look at him, two times… three times… hell he couldn't even guess how much stronger he was.

"The Hokage hat will be mine!" Naruto shouted again, before a fireball exploded in his face.

"Will you shut up?! And more importantly, WATCH WHERE YOU FIRE THAT THING! I was training in the woods! If it weren't for my Sharingan sensing the shift in chakra you could have killed me!" Sasuke yelled, his fist a smoking gun.

"Ugh… cheap shot me will you? Anyway what's the big deal, this isn't real so nothing would have happened!" Naruto complained.

"You're such an idiot. Pain is still a mental faculty, meaning whatever you do to me here I will feel on the outside. SO WATCH IT!" Sasuke growled, butting heads with Naruto once again.

The Kyuubi sighed in annoyance as he watched the scene unfold in front of him, every time he thought he was making progress…

" _Whatever… Pick and choose your battles Kurama. They should grow out of it soon… I hope."_ Kurama thought.

Still, Naruto and Sasuke continued to shatter his expectations. The Kyuubi was skeptical before, but these two boys might actually have a chance at succeeding.

In one year of mental training, two rookie Genin were able to develop their chakra manipulation skills to rival that of Jonin. While the Kyuubi wouldn't bet on the two to win in a fight against a Jonin yet because of their lacking in the physicality department, no Chunin would be a match for them either.

" _But even that won't be the case for long. The Sharingan will allow Sasuke to adapt to anyone he fights while Naruto's healing factor will allow him to make massive gains without fear of injury. I'll give them a couple months of physical conditioning before they'll be ready to take on a Balrog individually."_ Kurama thought.

But what was one singular Balrog in the face of a horde of thousands?

" _Don't get ahead of yourself Kurama. Patience is a virtue. They'll get there someday, but not yet. Time to move on though, the boys' time in here is done for now."_ Kurama thought.

" **Alright you two… SETTLE DOWN!"** Kurama barked, halting Naruto and Sasuke in their tracks.

The tailed beast sweatdropped when he saw the two grabbing each other by the scruff of their shirts, wielding a Rasengan and Chidori in their palms.

" _...Kami give me strength."_ Kurama sighed, while the two shinobi pulled apart.

" **Tweedledum and Tweedledee, we need to move on. Head on outside, it's time to put all that you've learned into practice. Get moving."** Kurama said, before walking away.

Naruto and Sasuke stared each other for a bit.

"Which one of us is which?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"You dumbass... we both know who the Tweedledum is around here." Sasuke said with a shit-eating grin.

The boys wouldn't leave the mindscape for another hour, they were too focused on trying to gut each other out.

* * *

In the middle of a small pond in the backwoods of Toshiki and Yukari's farm, Sasuke stood in solitude with his hands clasped together in meditation. Slowly, the air picked up and the temperature rose, the atmosphere starting to shimmer and the water underneath the Uchiha's soles beginning to steam.

After a few seconds of this, powerful flames erupted around Sasuke in the shape of a double helix. The Uchiha opened his eyes and shifted into a horse stance before bringing his right fist back, the flames coalescing around the appendage.

 **"Katon: Hoteiken."** (Fire Release: Fist of the Phoenix Emperor) Sasuke called out, funneling a large concentration of Katon chakra around his forearm.

Sasuke punched forward and fired a large column of flame, the giant torrent of heat traveling for several hundred feet on the water surface. At the end of its range, the mass of fire imploded and displaced a large volume of the pond.

Twirling his arms in a circle, Sasuke formed a ring of fire from the flames that flickered around his body. A blistering set of taijutsu motions followed, fireballs flying in all directions from his punches and arcs of fire scything through the air from roundhouse kicks.

Sasuke ended his kata by propelling himself upward with assistance from a large pillar of fire, rocketing hundreds of feet into the air. Quickly, Sasuke flipped forwards into a dropkick and swung the pillar of fire over his head, the descending flames shifting into the shape of a guillotine and parting the water below.

Satisfied with his work, the Uchiha dispelled his flames in midair and changed the nature of his chakra to practice his other element.

 **"Chidori Senbon."** (One Thousand Birds' Needles) Sasuke cried and with a swipe of his left arm, the Uchiha launched a multitude of needle shaped **Raiton** projectiles from the Chidori that he held.

The lightning needles ripped through the water surface like paper and discharged its energy, causing arcs of electricity to run all across. Sasuke landed on the water a few moments after, walking through the haze of lightning with no pain whatsoever.

He was long since immune to the power of lightning anyway.

Sasuke formed the Chidori in his left hand once again and brought it up to his face for inspection, smirking in satisfaction. Whereas before, Sasuke's poor control had made the jutsu a white mass of chakra that engulfed his entire hand, it was now a focused blueish-white sphere of power that he held in his palm.

For all intents and purposes, Sasuke's Chidori was the same as Kakashi's Raikiri. Equal in power, force, and S-Ranking. Only nostalgia had made Sasuke continue to call the new and improved jutsu the Chidori, despite the inaccuracy.

 **"Chidori Eiso."** (One Thousand Birds' Sharp Spear) Sasuke said, extending his arm outward and allowing a pointed rod of **Raiton** chakra to extend from the the Chidori's nexus for a distance of 50 meters.

Sasuke swung the spear around in large swathes, envisioning potential enemies and how to efficiently run them through. Then he started to practice retracting and extending the spear in quick intervals so he could adapt to whatever situation may occur.

To finish the exercise, Sasuke re-extended the spear to its full height and sprouted six rods from the tip in all directions. It would be a nasty surprise to someone who barely missed the initial attack.

"Now for some area of effect damage." Sasuke thought, returning the Chidori back to its original state.

Sasuke now overloaded his Chidori with even more chakra, causing sparks of electricity to appear. Strands of lightning began frothing from the seams, barely being able to be contained.

 **"Chidori Nagashi."** (One Thousand Birds' Current) Sasuke grunted, pointing his open palm forward and letting loose a wave of electric current.

The power behind the attack was massive, rippling the water that it came across and assuring that anyone who was caught in its path would writhe in agony before succumbing.

Sasuke halted the flow of Raiton chakra before bringing it back into his body and letting it build up once more. Sparks licked at the Uchiha's frame as he clenched his fists in front of him, pouring more and more chakra until he reached a breaking point.

 **"HA!"** Sasuke roared as he released the lightning in an omnidirectional pulse of force, a shockwave of electricity erupting outward and knocking back anything that was within range. The phenomena went on for about twenty seconds before the flow halted and the landscape became quiet.

 _"Whew… not bad at all. Even after all that my chakra reserves are still holding up strong. Hard to believe that one month ago I could only use the Chidori twice."_ Sasuke thought to himself.

It was inconceivable to Sasuke about how much progress he had made and it also opened up Sasuke's eyes to how truly vast this existence was.

 _"I was such an arrogant little twat, thinking that I could best Itachi with such an insufficient power. Even with all my strength now, I know I'm still no match. But I wouldn't mind showing that Balrog a thing or two."_ Sasuke continued.

After "two weeks" of training under the Kyuubi in the mindscape, Sasuke didn't think that there could be anything worse. His mind burned with exhaustion and he constantly asked himself at the end of every day if it was truly worth it.

But boy was he wrong.

The countryside that Toshiki and Yukari's farm was located on possessed many types of natural features, from mountains and cliffsides, to tall hills and deep valleys, to wide open fields, etc. And each one seemed to fill the Kyuubi's head with horrific exercises that he would use to "toughen" Naruto and Sasuke up.

Mental training didn't even compare to the pain that was wrought by the Kyuubi for physical conditioning. Anything from scaling a mountain one handed to running miles in a handstand position was fair game.

If Sasuke refused, the Kyuubi would open the telepathy link and drive him insane with whatever noise he could think of until he submitted.

There was no escape.

But Sasuke persevered, what didn't kill you only made you stronger and the Uchiha took that to heart. Sasuke pushed himself hard for another two weeks despite the knowledge that he wouldn't heal from it as effectively as Naruto would.

It wasn't all bad though, his and Naruto's sparring matches never ceased to amuse. Despite the jinchuriki's growth spurt and massive increase in strength, the power of the matured Sharingan meant that Sasuke was still superior in the field of taijutsu.

That wasn't to say that Naruto was trash however, the jinchuriki had made remarkable improvement. Naruto's form had cleaned up and he had started to think rather than blindly rush in all the time with clones.

Unfortunately for the jinchuriki, Uchihas were bred for close combat and the presence of the Sharingan meant that whatever Naruto brought to the table, Sasuke would adapt and counterattack.

Still it was quite a learning experience, Naruto held the advantage in physical strength and durability while Sasuke was superior in agility and dexterity and they were equals in raw speed. This meant that Sasuke couldn't try to match Naruto blow for blow and the Uchiha's evasive skills improved tremendously as he had to counter Naruto's strikes with the best possible response.

Speaking truthfully however, Sasuke would say that Naruto was improving faster in their bouts than he was. There was no trickery involved, it was just nature. When two people of differing levels practiced together, assuming that they both gave the same amount of effort, the weaker person would make more progress than the stronger person.

While the Sasuke from a couple months ago would have raged, current Sasuke could only wait in anticipation. Having a competent partner would only make Sasuke grow by leaps and bounds because it would force him to start making drastic changes to improve.

Until then, Sasuke was content.

Sasuke was quickly brought out of his thoughts when his acute sense of hearing picked up a series of booming sounds. Upon recognizing the familiar noise however, the Uchiha broke out into savage grin.

 _"Back for more, huh? Well then… LET'S SEE WHAT YOU'VE GOT!"_ Sasuke thought excitedly, activating his prized Sharingan.

 **"Futon: Rasendan."** (Wind Release: Spiralling Bullet) a voice called out.

The precognitive abilities of the Sharingan proved their worth once more as Sasuke danced around the wind bullets that came down from the air. The resulting explosions however, caused the water to kick up and obscure the Uchiha's vision.

Sasuke didn't let that get to him however, relying on his senses to tell him where the enemy would come from. A couple seconds later, Sasuke heard a splash from behind him and kicked in the direction of the noise, shooting a stream of flames from the outstretched appendage towards the offender.

When the blast of fire made contact, the person in question dispelled in a poof of smoke, making Sasuke's eyes widen in surprise.

Five Naruto shadow clones erupted out of the water before descending on Sasuke, who shifted into the Uchiha Interceptor opening stance.

One clone started the exchange with a drop kick, which Sasuke evaded. The clone followed up by pulsing a burst of chakra from its foot and rocketing in Sasuke's direction with an elbow. Sasuke caught the elbow with difficulty, skidding back from the force, and then engulfed the clone in a wave of fire that dispelled it.

Three Naruto clones surrounded Sasuke on all sides, before closing in and bombarding the Uchiha with a flurry of punches. Sasuke read each move perfectly and took great care to deflect each and every blow properly due to the power behind the strikes. The trio of blondes ran circles around Sasuke in order to change up the direction of their attacks in the hope that one would slip through the Uchiha's defenses.

It was all for naught.

 **"Chidori Nagashi!"** (One Thousand Birds' Current) Sasuke roared as he released the shockwave of electricity, knocking back his aggressors and dispelling them from the force.

An eerie quiet returned to the battlefield, causing Sasuke to relax. But then the Uchiha's eyes proceeded to widen in alarm when he realized that there was still one Naruto unaccounted for.

Pond water sprayed into Sasuke's face before a vicious uppercut found its place onto his chin, the real Naruto erupting from under the Uchiha.

 **"Futon: Rasenkyaku!"** (Wind Release: Spiralling Kick) Naruto shouted, following up with a wind chakra empowered roundhouse kick to Sasuke's ribs that sent the Uchiha bowling over backwards in a powerful typhoon.

Sasuke went splashing for hundreds of feet, but eventually recovered control of his body and skidded to a halt across the pond surface.

 _"Fucking hell, that HURT! That idiot better not have broken a rib."_ Sasuke thought, winching in pain from the reddening welt on his side.

Eyes narrowing from anger and conviction, Sasuke clasped his hands together in a single hand seal and sucked in air.

 **"Katon: Ryuka!"** (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique) Sasuke shouted, breathing out a powerful flamethrower attack at Naruto.

The jinchuriki evaded with haste, pulsing wind chakra from his soles to propel him across the water surface like a jet ski. Sasuke was not to be deterred however and swiveled his head to follow the fleeing shinobi.

The flamethrower quickly closed in on Naruto and seeing no method of escape, the blond halted the flow of chakra under his feet and sank into the water.

"Oh no you don't. **Chidori Nagashi**." (One Thousand Birds' Current) Sasuke said, firing a blast of electricity from his palm at the area that Naruto was last seen in to flush him out.

The tactic worked as Naruto rocketed out of the water, some scorch marks on the outfit that Yukari had sewn him. The jinchuriki soared in altitude, propelling himself with bursts of wind chakra at irregular intervals.

Sasuke chased after him, rocketing upward from the thrust generated by the flames that erupted out of his soles. Fireballs flew from the Uchiha's fists, but Naruto adopted evasive actions and was able to dodge each and every one of the Katon projectiles.

In a move that was only worthy of him, Naruto unpredictably changed directions and dived towards Sasuke. But the Uchiha possessed admirable reflexes and prepared accordingly for the oncoming charge.

 **"Katon: Hoteiken!"** (Fire Release: Fist of the Phoenix Emperor) Sasuke shouted, punching upward with his left fist.

 **"Futon: Rasenken!"** (Wind Release: Spiralling Fist) Naruto roared, punching downward with his right fist.

The two shinobi's attacks clashed with tremendous force, a shockwave erupting from the point of impact. Fire and Wind pushed at each other for dominance, but neither could overwhelm the other.

Eventually, the clash exploded outward and blew the two warriors backwards, the two combatants staring at each other with enjoyment in their eyes.

"Not bad dumbass, it seems that you've brushed up on your skills a bit." Sasuke commended backhandedly, his eyes flickering with mirth.

"Yeah well, don't get too cocky bastard. You should always watch those below you, you never know when they'll rise up to sock you in the face." Naruto replied mildly, but a smirk grew on his face.

"I'll keep that in mind. Now... let's dance." Sasuke said, before rocketing forward at the similarly charging Naruto.

The two shinobi engaged in a ferocious midair brawl, flames and wind smashing against each other as punches were either knocked away or clashed against the other's guard. Sasuke eventually gained control however by ducking under one of Naruto's swings and rocking him in the gut with a savage flame enhanced punch.

Naruto spat blood and keeled over, leaving himself open for a flame empowered axe handle that sent him spiraling towards the ground. The jinchuriki at first spun erratically, but eventually regained control of himself before he made impact with the water.

Naruto shot a pulse of wind out his palms that halted his descent, using the momentum of the reversal to backflip onto his feet on the pond surface.

Sasuke snarled in annoyance and rocketed downward, flames erupting from his soles. The Uchiha shot a blast of fire at Naruto, but the jinchuriki jumped backwards before gathering chakra into his hand for a counterattack.

 **"Futon: Rasenha!"** (Wind Release: Spiralling Wave) Naruto shouted as he extended his right palm forward and hit the descending Sasuke with a powerful blast of wind.

The attack carried the force of a miniature typhoon and slammed into Sasuke, tearing at his skin and clothes and sending him flying until he regained control of his momentum and skidded across the water.

Naruto pressed on the attack, charging forward with the might of a bull and flying at the Uchiha with a flying side kick. Sasuke rolled out of the way with haste, but Naruto quickly changed directions with another pulse of wind and let loose a flurry of jabs.

Sasuke shifted out of the way of all of the attacks before retaliating with a fierce flame enhanced roundhouse kick to the temple, but Naruto tanked the blow and stood his ground, grabbing the appendage and dragging Sasuke into his follow up wind empowered right hook.

Sasuke refused to play along however, and swung his other flame sheathed leg upward to knock the punch off course before falling to the ground and sweeping Naruto's legs.

Naruto rolled out of the way of a fire blast that headed for his face and then backflipped, sending a wind crescent at Sasuke who sidestepped it. Sasuke swiped his arm outward and sent an arc of flame at Naruto who diffused it, before retaliating with a wind bullet that Sasuke deflected.

Sasuke fired another round of fireballs at the jinchuriki who ducked and weaved around the bombardment, slowly inching closer to Sasuke.

After getting within ten feet, Naruto shot forward with yet another pulse of wind chakra, catching Sasuke off guard with a tackle that sent them crashing along the water surface. Trying to take advantage of the confusion, Naruto threw a hard wind empowered punch at the Uchiha's face, but Sasuke shifted out of the way and flame elbowed Naruto in the neck, reversing their positions.

Sasuke straddled Naruto and then lit up his fists with flames, laying on a savage barrage of punches at Naruto's face to which the jinchuriki blocked against desperately. Thinking on his feet, Naruto once again released a pulse of wind chakra from his soles to push Sasuke forward and then rose up and headbutted him. Blood and spittle flew from Sasuke's face as he reeled back in pain, but the Uchiha had enough sense to aim his palm at the approaching Naruto and fired a blast of flame that knocked the jinchuuriki back and gave him distance.

Shaking the cobwebs out of his eyes, Sasuke glared at Naruto before forming a Chidori in his palm.

"Let's see how you handle this! **Chidori Eiso**!" (One Thousand Birds' Current) Sasuke roared, thrusting his arm forward and shooting an extending rod of lightning at the jinchuriki.

Naruto hastily wrapped his forearms in a dense armor of wind and then cross blocked, just in time for the spear of lightning to clash against his defenses. The power behind the **Chidori Eiso** pushed Naruto backwards, his feet skidding against the pond surface as Naruto struggled to hold back Sasuke's thrust.

Eventually however, Sasuke's attack reached its full length before it was able to push through Naruto's guard. The jinchuriki quickly batted away the spear and then charged forward, determined to close the distance and avoid being at a disadvantage.

Sasuke swung his spear in a frenzy, furiously trying to keep Naruto from closing in. Unfortunately for him however, Naruto's honed reflexes allowed him to duck and roll under every attempt and eat up the distance rapidly.

 **"Chidori Senbon!"** (One Thousand Birds' Current) Sasuke shouted, launching a barrage of Raiton needles from his free hand in a final attempt to halt Naruto's advance.

Despite the danger from the approaching projectiles, Naruto simply protected his face with his wind armored arms and pushed forward, allowing some of the needles to puncture and prick his skin.

Realizing that he had failed, Sasuke compensated by shortening the length of the **Chidori Eiso** to that of a katana. Sasuke slashed his **Raiton** blade at Naruto, who blocked with his wind sheathed forearm, and the two clashed with a burst of sparks flying from the impact.

The two warring comrades locked eyes with each other for a second, before they flew into an elaborate dance. Sasuke stabbed and slashed with fervor, but Naruto deflected and dodged all of his strikes with impressive skill.

However, Sasuke eventually struck gold with a stab to Naruto's shoulder, firmly embedding the weapon into him. The jinchuriki gasped in pain and spit up blood, but he gritted his teeth and grabbed the **Raiton** blade before kicking Sasuke in the stomach, **HARD**.

Now it was Sasuke's turn to wretch up bile as he rocketed backward thanks to the force behind Naruto's wind empowered kick. Despite this, the Uchiha recovered through sheer force of will and formed another hand seal while sucking in air.

 **"Katon: Gokakyu!"** (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique) Sasuke shouted, firing the large missile of flame at near point blank range.

Naruto roared in agony as the attack crashed into him, having no time to react at all. The massive fireball carried Naruto for a few hundred feet before imploding on itself, causing the jinchuriki severe burns and sending him rolling across the water.

The battlefield became quiet as the two shinobi reeled from the series of exchanges. Naruto spent a gigantic amount of chakra to speed up his healing factor while Sasuke panted in exertion from his large expenditure of ninjutsu and the kick he took to the stomach.

After a minute of this, Naruto and Sasuke shared a look with each other, their gazes conveying a message that only a duo who possessed a bond as close as theirs would be able to understand.

One last attack… the winner of this exchange would be the victor.

Naruto slowly stood up and shifted into a horse stance, before he began to suck in large amounts of air. Meanwhile, flames erupted around Sasuke's body, swirling around him in a coil.

The battlefield was tense, who would become the victor?

 **"Futon: Rasen Gekido!"** (Wind Release: Spiralling Wrath) Naruto roared, firing a powerful maelstrom of wind at Sasuke who stood resolute.

The Uchiha began to twirl his arms in a circular fashion, the flames that surrounded him following their call. The fire spun around quicker and quicker until it formed a dome around Sasuke, just in time for the wind roar to make contact.

Sasuke's plan was to use Naruto's wind to fan his flames, continually pouring in chakra to make sure that his fire wasn't overwhelmed, and then throw it back at the jinchuriki to secure victory. In theory it should work…

But since when does life ever work like that?

The fire surrounding Sasuke began to expand as he put his plan into motion, the wind chakra from Naruto's attack feeding the flame dome more and more. But as the Uchiha continued, he soon found out that there was absolutely no way he was going to be able to control all of this firepower.

 _"Shit… this thing is going to blow up in my face! I'll have to detonate it early and hope for the best."_ Sasuke thought in panic, cursing himself for going through with such a shitty plan.

 **"Katon: Goenkyu!"** (Fire Release: Great Blaze Ball) Sasuke roared, smashing his fists together in front of him and launching all the flames he had generated against the remaining half of Naruto's roar.

The two powerful forces connected with each other and detonated instantly, engulfing the entire pond and the some of the woods around it. The explosion was so powerful that anyone within 100 miles could see it.

The smoke from the explosion hung around for two whole minutes before it finally cleared, revealing the scene of a wounded Naruto and Sasuke lying on the pond surface, laughing their hearts out.

"Goddamn, what a rush! What the hell did you even do?" Naruto asked, slowly sitting up once the ringing stopped in his ears.

"I tried to use your roar to power my flames and then turn it back on you, but as you can see it didn't work." Sasuke said, grimacing in embarrassment.

"Well that was stupid. And people say that you're the smart one." Naruto snorted.

"Fuck off dumbass." Sasuke growled.

"Eat a dick bastard." Naruto countered.

The conversation petered out after that, the two shinobi resolving to just lie on the pond with the little chakra that they had left until their bodies stopped hurting so much.

It seemed that today's match would end in a draw.

* * *

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